


a created heart

by mikunicchi



Category: Arashi (Band)
Genre: AU, Angts, Fantasy, M/M, Magic, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-07
Updated: 2018-08-30
Packaged: 2019-03-15 05:01:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 32,766
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13606080
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mikunicchi/pseuds/mikunicchi
Summary: Is a monster with a created mind and heart was allowed to love a human? The monster knew it was impossible however the first moment he saw Sakurai Sho in that forest, he had no other choice to fall for his beautiful eyes.As for Sho; his first encounter with him was a pure coincidence and falling for him was beyond his control.





	1. Loneliness

**Author's Note:**

> So this is some kind of Beauty and The Beast I guess? lol I have no idea how it will turn out to be honest... but this was something I honestly wanted to write for a long time and I am putting everything I have with every wordd  
> And as much as it seems sad, it will turn out as happy (and probably sappy) ending.  
> I hope everyone enjoys this as much as I do while writing it.

_O_ _nce upon a time, there was a witch who lived in the depths of a forest, alone. Because she was the strongest witch ever known, people feared from her; her capability despite the gifts that she gave to them. They didn’t consider her as a human being like them. The Witch was very lonely, being pushed aside from her own kind; she felt hurt, alone... So she decided to create a monster._  
  
_A monster which will never leave her side, no matter what. A monster which will consider her as a human. And at the same way a monster which can not become a human since she believed that humans are worse than any kind of monster._  
  
_The Witch gave life to the monster. She gave it a human shape as well as human qualifications. She made the monster stronger and faster than any human being, also giving it an endless life span. She taught it how to talk and how to communicate with the forest. However she neither acknowledged it as a human nor did she let him know other people. There was no way she could consider **it** as a **human**. Because the monster wasn’t someone but something. She never wanted to show other humans to it, because the monster was her property. She also haven’t gave a name to that monster, she wanted to keep it away from having anything humanly. She created a monster which belonged to him. A monster which would never leave her side. A monster with no humanly feelings, which only follows her words without querying anything that she said._  
  
_But one day, many years after his creation; the monster voiced his tiny question which built over many years in his created mind. "Can't I become a human?"_  
  
_His creator; The Witch, though didn't answered him. The monster lowered his head, facing the ground. A lonely thought crossed his mind; **of course, I can't become a human.** Something moved inside his created heart. Something he didn’t know at all; something which is way too new for him to understand. A deep and heavy feeling that invaded his created heart which came with an understanding that hurt him more._  
  
_That was the first time that the monster felt **lonely** in the deptsh of his heart._  
  
***  
  
“God… why did I even agreed to come here?” Sho moaned as he fight with the thick vegetation for his way to the car that brought them to here. He kicked another bush and he avoided another tree branch while he continued grumbling.  
  
It wasn’t like he didn’t like traveling. It’s just… He wasn’t someone who is interested going into jungle that’s all. He preferred staying at the city and work. If his friends were to hear his complains about not being able to work in the middle of a forest, which was actually not a forest but camping area, would be really sad and Sho knew that perfectly. That’s why he was grumbling on his way back to the car to get their forgotten beers.  
  
Aiba and Jun were really enthusiastic about this camping trip. They even went all the trouble and bought really delicious meat for the dinner and Jun was willing to do everything about the barbecue. However, as long as Sho loved his friends; he couldn’t be less excited about this trip.  
  
_“Just shut your workaholic side for three day, Sho-chan. You definitely need a rest,”_ was what Aiba said to him. He knew they were worried about him and he wanted to say that he is perfectly fine. He could rest all he wants at home with his phone in his hand, checking his emails every single minute and making phone calls to his workers. He knew how to rest very well however he couldn’t stop Jun dragging him to this camping area. He wished he could ask Nino’s help before they could drag him. But then again, would there be any good, asking help from the devil? He could already imagine that Nino is laughing Sho’s miserable camping trip from his house which happened to be Sho’s next door.  
  
“Three days…” he heaved a sigh. “Whole three days…”  
  
_And it’s still the first day!_ he cursed under his breath. Three days rest meant a chaos waiting for him at work for his return and Sho really wanted to return back to Tokyo. Like _right now!_ He didn’t like being at that camp, which had no signal for phones! He needed to check his work, his emails and he had to do so much! This wasn’t really good. He was already feeling frustrated about this so-called holiday.  
  
It was then, he looked around him just to notice that his surroundings didn’t feel familiar at all. “Wait did we come from this way?” he muttered. Then he blinked a few times. “Okay, stay calm me…” He tried to organize his thoughts. He would lose everything when he thought about his work and this must be one of those moments. If he stays calm, he was sure that he would remember the right way.  
  
He was heading towards the van they came, Aiba sent him to go and take some drinks for the dinner. Did he take the wrong road? _No, that’s impossible,_ he thought stubbornly. This wasn’t a third rate horror movie and he was Sakurai Sho; there was no way he could lost his way in forest. He denied the fact once again and started to walk one more time.  
  
However much to his surprise, he was lost. Every single tree looked exactly the same and he had no idea where he was walking towards. Of course he would have no idea, he was born and raised in city. He never needed some kind of survival ability to stay alive in nature. He took out his phone from the pocket of his trousers and looked at it’s screen. It showed 16.45 and no signal.  
  
_Brilliant!_  
  
What could go worse than this? _Obviously nothing,_ he thought. He felt like punching something. He needed that damn signal to find his way or at least inform someone about the fact that he is lost. “I guess stopping here won’t help anything at all…” He heaved a sigh and walked around the trees. He tried to avoid some dead trees which was lying on the ground by jumping over them; he went through some medium sized bushes and he was truly running out of patience when a large lake appeared before him. Sho gasped with surprise, nearly falling to the mud. “God,” he groaned. He felt like crying. However, he couldn’t be happier than this for that moment as he finally found water. While avoiding the muddy part, he went closer to the lake and knelt near it, trying to get some water with his hands. It was then, he realized someone was sitting across the lake with a stick which looked more like a tree branch in his hand.  
  
His eyes, locked to the other’s face as if he was under some kind of spell. The one, who sat across the lake, looked like he was a adventurer that came out of the novels. His clothes, his straw hat that protected his eyes from the sunlight, his slumped sitting shape and his dark skin… Even from this far, Sho could see everything. He couldn’t help but feel lighter and happy inside since this meant he is saved. He straightened his posture and took a step towards this adventurer however before he could make his step; a clear voice forced him to stop.  
  
“It’s not a good step to take,” the voice belonged to the adventurer. “There’s a swamp ahead of you.” He said calmly, without opening his eyes. Sho blinked a few times, then turned his eyes a few steps ahead of him. The adventurer, despite having his eyes closed, he still looked like he could see everything. Sho opened his mouth; however he closed it not knowing what to say. He repeated that gesture for a few times, feeling more lost than he was a few minutes before. “Are you lost?” The adventurer asked while not even moving at all.  
  
“Yes,” Sho managed to utter.  
  
“I can see that.” The adventurer sound simple, and not caring.  
  
Sho frowned. “Excuse me?” He asked as he couldn’t contain his surprise and his anger which started to build little by little.  
  
“It’s nothing,” The adventurer said as he took his straw hat from his eyes. Finally, seeing his eyes Sho gasped. He thought, he hadn’t seen anything like those deep, clear eyes in his whole life. For a moment, none of them speak while Sho just continued to look at those beautiful pellucid eyes as if it would disappear the moment he takes his eyes from them. The mysterious adventurer was the one who averted his eyes from Sho’s first. “You came to camping area, right?” The adventurer asked while he fixed his gaze to his stick which Sho finally realized it was used for the purpose of fishing.  
  
“Yes,” Sho answered. “But I guess it would be too optimistic to expect that you know the way.”  
  
“I know,” The adventurer said simply, he looked at Sho for a moment then he stood up with one swift move. He walked towards Sho. There was certain elegance in his movements, swift and smooth. Sho couldn’t utter anything as the adventurer came closer to him, stopping a few steps away from Sho. _His eyes looks deeper than before,_ Sho thought forgetting everything other than his eyes. He felt his heart beating faster than before. However once again the adventurer averted his gaze from him. He walked past him, and Sho felt the slight wind from that. It was a strange feeling, like an electricity running under his skin; Sho couldn’t move from his place as he listened the sound of the other’s steps crashing leaves on the ground. A few seconds later the adventurer asked. “Aren’t you coming?”  
  
“Y-yes, I am coming…” Sho whispered as he forced his body to move.  
  
This was the very first time that Sho thought how unattainable he was…


	2. Hope

_The monster understood everything perfectly. Everything including that he is a created life for the purpose of staying with his creator, that he was a marionette in his owner's hands... That’s why the monster always stayed quiet. He listened The Witch, he answered The Witch, he stayed with The Witch._

_One day, his creator allowed him to ask one thing from her. Because she simply wanted to grant one wish for her docile monster._

_The monster though, didn’t have anything to wish from his creator. Because he wasn’t a human; so were there a meaning to wish for anything that will disappear soon? The monster looked at the ground. He wanted to grant his creator’s wish; because she wanted him to ask something from her. Because he was created to grant her wishes. That's why he did his best. He tried to find something to please her but the only thing he could think of was nothing but a simple desire. A desire which he wasn't allowed to feel at all… “Then can you give me a name?” The monster asked. A name, would be good. A name was what he wished for all this time. He looked at The Witch’s eyes. Something moved inside him, something funny. Filling his created heart with a sweet warmness._

_That was the first time that the monster felt **hopeful**._

***

Sho was walking behind the adventurer as he lead the way. Which was actually a good thing because now that he wasn't facing with this mysterious man, Sho realized he could think straight. It was funny how this man made Sho speechless for a moment. And it was certainly funny that how this man erased the fire of Sho’s anger and his never ending love for his work, just by being close to him. Sho haven't even tried to check his phone as he walked after the adventurer which was quite weird for the workaholic Sakurai Sho. Sho would check his phone even if he were to be in the middle of hell. But he couldn't think anything other than observing closely this mysterious man. 

The man was short. At least he was shorter than Sho. And he looked really slim. The sleepy look he had on his face could be mocked easily however his eyes burned with a certain intensity. His bright eyes looked like he could see anything and everything and the way he averted his gaze told nothing to Sho. But Sho knew that nothings were what hide everything. 

“You are inattentive,” He heard suddenly the man’s voice which caused Sho to stop his step in the air. 

“What?” He asked somehow stupidly. _Did he just insulted him?_

“I said you are inattentive,” the man repeated himself not even turning to look at Sho. “You are about to smash a rabbit nest.” He said this time eyeing him a little. 

“ _Oh,_ ” Sho looked in front of him just to see a rabbit hole a few centimeters away from his feet. He blinked a few times. 

“That’s why I don’t like campers,” the man mumbled calmly, turning his gaze to the way he was walking. 

“Excuse me?” Sho frowned. Okay, he might be at fault because he wasn’t looking where he was going but this didn’t mean that this man could insult him as he pleased. “And you are quite arrogant despite your laid back looks,” Sho said sharply while narrowing his eyes as if he could pierce through the man’s back. 

But the man take the wrong decision and he simply said, “Thank you,” to Sho’s wry words. 

“I am not praising you,” Sho said this time more angrily. 

“Yeah, whatever,” the man continued walking. One thing bothered Sho more than anything: The man didn’t face him even once. 

“And you are rude, aren’t you?” Sho said as his anger made him forget that his mind was actually full of this man for a moment. 

“So what?” The man said; again, not turning around to face Sho. 

This time, angry Sho take action as he closed the distance between them with a fast move. At least he thought like that. 

Before Sho can reach the man, the man caught his wrist and captured him between a big tree’s body and himself swiftly. Sho let out a soundless gasp, suddenly finding himself really close to the man. His hold in his wrist was soft but his eyes shone with a different light. “Never attack someone from behind,” the man said calmly. His voice harboured different emotions which Sho wasn’t capable of defining every one of them. Sho tried to take a deep breath as his heart beat fastened with the sudden closeness. His touch on Sho’s arm was warm; warm enough to cause an electricity run through Sho’s skin more intensely than before he walked past him. Sho felt like he was taken into a whirlpool which was in the man’s eyes. Once again, he felt like all his anger sucked by the man. He felt vulnerable. He felt vulnerable towards a total stranger. As if he was drawn him by some kind of magic, he was feeling naked in front of those bright eyes. 

The man, broke their contact first, like before. “I am sorry,” he mumbled almost inaudible. _Why?_ Sho thought. He didn’t really know what or whom to that question directed but that was the only thing echoed his mind. He really wanted to know why. 

_Why did he apologized? Why did he avert his gaze from me again? Why he never dares to look at me? Why did he sound that lonesome? Why did he looked that scared? Why do I care? Why do I want want him to continue to touch me? Why did his touch felt that warm, that familiar against my skin?_ **_Why?!_ **

But he couldn’t ask any of those questions. He found himself facing with the back of the mysterious man once again as if nothing had happened. Before he could say anything the man, “Let’s get going, it will be dark,” said masking his emotions under a calm voice. 

 

 _He doesn’t remember me,_ the monster thought simply. He could do nothing about that fact. The monster has lived through many centuries and thanks to his creator he also had a good memory, but never once in his whole life, he felt this powerless towards anything. Never once in his life, the monster felt confused this much and this tortured at the same time. He was torn between the desire to hug the man who was walking behind him and wanting to let him go. 

The monster, felt as if his whole being was breaking into many pieces. He was used to pain. And also being lonely. Even the burning feeling of betrayal was better than this. The man who was walking behind him was torturing him. He felt as if that man was holding the strings of his being. 

***

_“Are you alright?” The monster asked the little boy who was looking at him with an amazed gaze while the monster held the dead tree with one hand from falling onto the little boy. The monster felt like he was trapped in those well shaped, bright eyes._

_And the little boy smiled._

_That was the best smile the monster had ever seen in his long life, making his created heart jump from its place. It felt too good to be true, too beautiful to be exist. Too magical to be in front of his eyes._

_He wasn’t allowed to feel like this. The monster knew it perfectly, however his heart didn’t want to accept it once their hands touched. The monster felt powerless, and he also felt stronger as if he could fight with the world which denied his presence, for him. For that beautiful smile, for those bright eyes._

***

He smiled bitterly trusting the fact that the man walking behind him couldn’t see any of his expressions. The monster knew that even if Sho didn’t remember anything, he would still be sad seeing this lonely expression of his. Because he was Sho; because he was the one and only person that let the monster belong somewhere. Even though he had forgotten about it, there was no way for the monster to forget. The monster tried to swallow the tears that started to build in his eyes. Tears were something he discovered after many years of his creation. He was a monster, without any humanly feelings; yet it seemed like he could shed tears like a human. _Ironic._ A monster who was shedding tears for a human… 

The monster didn't know what to do. Were there any way to stop this feelings? Were there any way to make him remember the monster? _No,_ the monster thought firmly. _It's better like this. I am a monster. I am not allowed to feel like this towards you._

Their walk went quietly. The monster was aware that Sho was feeling confused as he avoided any talk between them. He quietly lead the way he camping area while his only desire was to reach his hand and touch Sho’s soft cheeks. It was stupid, the monster knew it very well. Yet he still wanted. 

Once they reached the path which was made with human hands when that camping are was building, he stopped. The monster remembered the day when that camping are was building. He remembered that he felt trapped at that time. However he stopped hating that camping are when it brought Sho to him as a lost little boy. 

“Here,” the monster said not looking at him. “If you follow this path, you will reach the camping area.” 

Sho, didn’t say anything. The monster looked at him with the corner of his eye; Sho was looking at the ground. The monster smiled sadly and before he could stop himself, he said; “Don’t wander around too much, the woods are still dangerous.” 

Sho looked at him suddenly as if he was shot by some kind of lightning. “What did you said?” He asked baffled. His eyes got bigger as he tried to catch the monsters eyes. “How did you know that? What is your name? Who are you?” Sho asked. 

But before he could get any answers, the monster disappeared from his sight. As if he wasn’t there from the very beginning. 

***

The very first time the monster met Sho was when he was little. It was a two weeks long summer camp. Since his parents were too busy to have him at home in the summer holiday, they had sent him to that summer camp, at least that was what Sho told him. It was the first day of his camp when Sho rebelliously wanted to flee from the camping area. The boy, lost his way in the middle of forest and compared to present time, the woods were thicker. 

A rain storm was nearing when the monster found the boy in the forest. He was wandering around with a scared gaze and the monster watched him closely from a safe distance. The monster was scared of humans, or more likely he was scared of them knowing the fact that he is a monster. However when the wild wind made a dead tree fall over to the spot where the boy was standing, his body moved before his mind. He stopped the tree, and looked at the little boy in front of him; feeling his heart beat once again after many years. There was no way he could forget that day which was scraped to his whole existence. 

After that first encounter, Sho seemed like he acknowledged the monster as a friend. He keep coming to the forest as if he was seeking the accompany of the monster. And for the monster; the little Sho was cute, and he was also hurt deep inside; like the monster. Little by little the monster felt that Sho’s presence was becoming dear to him. Which was strange and very agonizing… But he couldn’t resist the power of Sho’s being which draw the monster to little boy. 

On their third meet, Sho asked him a question. “How long are you trying to keep your name as a secret?”

The monster felt confused. Because simply, he didn’t had any name. The Witch never gave him a name, which he desired for too much. The monster sadly averted his eyes from Sho’s beautiful gaze. “Monster. Call me like that.” 

The monster could feel Sho’s confusion even without looking at him. “But you aren’t a monster…” he said calmly. “How come you don’t have any name? Were your parents also too busy for you?”

“No… It’s not like that…” The monster muttered. He didn’t know how to explain it to the little boy. 

“Hmm… Calling you as Monster doesn’t feel right. And you said you don't have a name… Then can I give you a name?” The little boy asked innocently. He smiled to the monster as the monster looked at him flabbergasted. A name was what he desired for this whole time. Centuries, if he needed to be specific… A knot tied around his throat. “I will call you as…” the boy told him his name for the first time many years back then. And now, it had been many years that the monster last heard that someone said that name out loud. 

 

***

“... Satoshi!” Sho voiced it out way more louder than he originally intended. Jun and Aiba turned over him worried. 

“Sho-san, are you alright?” Jun asked gingerly. Aiba was carefully eying him from where he sit next to Jun. 

“Ah? Oh! I am! I mean, yes, I am okay. Sorry for yelling,” Sho said trying to brush it off. 

“Sho-chan, you sure you okay? I mean you are behaving strange from the moment you came back…” Aiba moved over his seat to sit next to Sho.

“Nothing. Nothing happened. I told you I just got lost and couldn’t find the car so I just came back,” Sho said loyally. 

“But that doesn’t explain why you called out a name which none of us know…” Jun said smartly. 

“And you haven’t checked your phone from the time you got back!” Aiba pointed out. “The Sakurai Sho we know would check his phone even if he is in the middle of a skydiving.”

“You are exaggerating it! There’s no way I would go to a skydiving,” Sho defended himself. 

“But you are not denying the fact that you would check your phone,” Jun was sharp as always and Sho especially hated it now. 

“There’s no signal here, there won’t be anything even if I check.” He said calmly. 

“But that wouldn’t stop you from trying to get a signal. Come on, we know you better than you think,” Aiba insisted. 

Sho sighed heavily. “I don’t have any problem guys. Stop assuming that I have a problem just because I haven’t checked my phone.” However even Sho was aware that there was no way he could fool his friends like this. But he also knew that they were going to let him be. 

“This camping area is not good for Sho-chan after all, Jun-pon,” Aiba said pouting a little. 

“Yeah, I guess it was a bad idea to come to a nostalgic place,” Jun shrugged. “You remember Sho-san was weird back then at the summer camp too, right?”

“Eh?” Sho looked at them baffled. “Wait this camping place is that camping place? Seriously?!”

Aiba laughed out loud. “You just realized that? Sho-chan you turned out such a workaholic, you don't even remember our summer camp! Oh wait, you were hardly with us so no wonder you don't remember here,” Aiba giggled a bit. “Jun-pon the meats are done I guess.”

With that the talk moved towards a different direction which saved Sho from any further discussion about their old camp adventures.

Thanks to Aiba, everything seemed to make sense for Sho. Why that man felt that familiar to him, and why he remembered those warning words… 

It was when he was 10 years old that his parents were too busy to have him at home, they simply sent Sho over to a summer camp for two weeks. But he didn't remember anything about it other than meeting Jun and Aiba at that camp. Maybe it was because he didn't wanted to go to that camp at all, or maybe he hated the fact that his parents simply abandoned him to that camp. He always tried to be strong however he remembered that he truly felt hurt at that time.  
_  
How come I forget about you?_ Sho thought sadly. _You were the one who saved me and look at me, I forgot about you._

Remembering the lonesome expression on the man's face Sho felt a tight knot in his throat. I _simply forgot about your presence which was so endearing for me at that time._

***

Next day as soon as Sho wake up, he prepared a rucksack for himself and tried to sneak out before Aiba and Jun could found out. He was not really good with sneaking out but somehow he managed to get away without anyone noticing him. 

It was still early for jogging however he felt more than awake. He tried to ignore the fact that he was unable to sleep last night. Every time he closed his eyes, the man, Satoshi would visit his mind, with that lonely but beautiful silhouette. Ambiguous memories invaded his mind and Sho realized that he needed answers.

Was that man really him? Was he really Satoshi? Sho wanted to know more than anything. 

 

He met Satoshi when he was just 10. It was a hot summer day, which rained strangely. That day was one of the weirdest days for Sho. But as he was just 10 years old, when a tanned man stopped a big dead tree from falling above his head with just one hand Sho was convinced that he was just strong. Extremely strong, to be more specific. And that didn’t made any sense to grown up Sho who doesn’t believed in fairy tales anymore. 

When he reached the part where the path curled and continued towards the car area, Sho just turned and ducked in the woods, with a determined look on his face. 

He tried to remember the way he walked with the man however it was still impossible for him to find his way in the forest. He struggled with dead trees, he trip because of the bushes and he was beyond tired. Did he disappeared again? Did he leave without a trace again? Sho felt tears started to build in his eyes. He closed his eyes tightly in order to stop those tears coming to surface. “Why?” He voiced out without realizing. “Why are you disappearing always?” 

But there was no answer. _There’s no way I am going to give up before finding you!_ he thought stubbornly as he continued to walk deeper in the woods. The longer he walked, the ticker was forest becoming and from some point, he couldn’t even see what is ahead of him. The trees were everywhere; they were even blocking the sun above him. It was that moment when Sho stepped into an emptiness. His eyes widened and before he could gain the control of his body, he was falling. He shut his eyes tightly as the sickening feeling of height hit him hard which was scarier than falling itself. There was nothing he could do, he was going to die here without seeing him. He couldn’t even scream because of the fear. 

However he never hit the hard ground as he expected. He slowly opened his eyes when he felt he wasn’t falling anymore. The first thing he realized was that he was lying on a flower bed, then looked up and seeing broken ivy branches it clicked him. He was lucky. 

He stood up slowly and looked around himself, just to see a small garden which looked like it popped out of fairy tales. His eyes widened as he saw all kind of flowers with various colors surround a small wooden hut. The sunlight was illuminating the hut while giving it a heavenly feeling. It was a small paradise and it reminded Sho of an art piece which came out of a talented artist. It was beautiful, the most beautiful place in the world. 

“How did you find here?” Sho heard his voice behind him. It wasn’t surprising, Sho smiled. _So this is your house,_ he thought before turning around to face him. 

“I came to find you,” Sho said calmly; trying his best to not to be affected by him. 

“I have nothing to do with you,” The man said averting his eyes from Sho, he started walking towards the hut. But Sho was determined this time. 

“But I have!” He said narrowing his eyes. “You are Satoshi, right?” When he said his name, the man stiffened visibly. Sho’s eyes widened. He was right for all this time. He was right!


	3. Despair

_“No, no,” the monster whispered hysterically. “You can not die, you can not die, you can not die…” all he knew as his life has belonged to The Witch, he was lost without her. He was lost without his owner._

_The Witch though smiled in her last breath. She almost felt sorry for her monster. However, she couldn't, because her monster was a failure. “I can… because… I am… a… human… But you will not… no… can not… until… you find…” The Witch couldn't manage to finish her last words as her life left her old body. The monster looked at her lifeless image in front of him. He couldn't utter any words however his created mind knew what she wanted to say._

_Because I am not a human, the monster completed her last words in his mind. “Because I am not a human.”_

_That was the first time that the monster felt **despair** in his heart. _

***

The monster smiled bitterly as he once again remembered The Witch. Which was almost laughable because the monster had never forgotten her. He lived his every day while remembering her, remembering the curse which she had left to him. Otherwise was impossible. He was still living in The Witch’s garden, he was still looking to that garden because of her. It was a mystery to the monster why he still continued to live in that garden since The Witch had died decades ago. But he had nowhere else to go other than that cursed but safe garden which was still protected from every human eye with The Witch’s magic. Even though she had died a long time ago, her powerful magic was still there… The monster and that cursed garden was a proof of it. 

That’s why when the monster saw him in The Witch’s garden he froze. He was standing with his face turned to the garden which the monster hate with all his might but still continued to look after. Sho wasn’t belonged to there. But he was still standing with all his grace even in that cursed garden. _You shouldn’t be here,_ he thought. _If The Witch were to see you- but she isn’t here… She isn’t here…_ The monster had to take a deep breath, “How did you find here?” he asked. _This place is cursed,_ he wanted to say. _You shouldn’t be here…_  
  
His voice made Sho turn around to face him. The monster tried his best to stay neutral. “I came to find you,” Sho said calmly. The monster, haven’t said anything for a moment. Sho was strong. Stronger than him. The monster knew that from the very beginning but seeing Sho in front of him like that just made him remember that again. 

“I have nothing to do with you,” The monster said averting his eyes from Sho. For some reason, looking at him was awfully hard for the monster. Then he took a slight deep breath for the purpose of holding himself back from running to him, hugging him, taking him out of that garden, taking him to somewhere; anywhere but not here. He forced himself to walk past him. 

“But I have!” He heard Sho raising his voice behind him, stubbornly. “You are Satoshi, right?” The moment he heard that name, the monster froze in his place. His eyes widened, feeling as if his heart stopped for the moment. He tried to swallow the knot in his throat as lots of thoughts wandered around his head. 

_How long has it been since the last time I heard your voice calling my name? How long has it been since I heard that name you gave me? How long has it been the last time I felt like someone, not just a monster; not just something?_

The monster closed his eyes as Sho called out his name. The feeling sinks into his heart, it was painful enough to cut his breath off. However, it was also the best thing he had felt after a long time. His body stiffened as that name ringed through his whole being. The monster had once again become Satoshi… He gulped. 

“You are Satoshi, aren't you?” he heard Sho asking, again and again, trying to get an answer from him desperately. “Because that's the name I gave you; _because you are wise and you know everything about the forest,_ ” Sho repeated his own words from back then. 

“So what?” the monster said calmly. He wasn't Satoshi. He couldn't become Satoshi once again. However deep down he wanted nothing but become Satoshi. The monster wanted to be someone, not something for this whole time. But was that desire of his really allowed? He wanted Sho to stop. Because it hurt. It hurt more than he actually thought… Every time he desired something humanly, everything would make him remember that he wasn't one. There was no way for him to become a human, he thought he understood that however he still wanted. 

And there was no way for him to be with Sho. There was no way for him to become Satoshi and spend his life next to Sho. He learned that from the first hand and he didn’t want to taste the same pain again and again.

He was prepared to deny everything Sho had said however he wasn't prepared for this. He was already way too lost in his thoughts so when Sho hugged him from behind, he was shocked. He couldn't utter any word, he couldn't move even one muscle. He was simply frozen under the warm touch of Sho. “You are making that lonely face again,” he whispered. “I can say even without looking.”

The monster wanted to ask a lot of questions. But the only one that came from his lips was a simple, shaky: “How?” 

 

Sho chuckled. It was almost funny to see that man who had insulted him for a few times already frozen like this. And it was almost funny how Satoshi fit into his arms this perfectly. As far as Sho remembered him; which was really slightly, he was way taller than Sho; and stronger than him. However now, Sho was taller than him. Maybe that's why he didn't remember him at all because the Satoshi he remembered back then was nothing like this. But he was also the same, Sho could see lots of differences as well as he could see that nothing really changed. He was still that Satoshi who looked at him with that far and lonely eyes. Even though he remembered little about the events that took place at that time strangely, he remembered the little details about Satoshi. Which was a really funny thing because until he find out that he was Satoshi, he didn’t even know that he remembered all these details about him. “I don't know honestly, you certainly have changed a lot. But not that much,” Sho answered as he smiled before letting go of Satoshi. 

Satoshi turned his face to him with a confused look on his face. He hasn't answered Sho for a heart beating moment. “I haven't changed,” he said calmly before meeting with Sho’s eyes. Because that was the truth. He didn’t change at all. He couldn’t change after all. 

“You were taller,” Sho said feeling the urge to point out. 

“No, _you_ were short,” Satoshi said calmly. “But you still like to wander around the forest.”

Sho narrowed his eyes. “Oh well but now you are the short one. And I don't like to wander around the forest at all. I was looking for you.”

“And you are as short-tempered as ever,” Satoshi remarked without bothering himself not to.

“And whose fault is that?” Sho grumbled but didn't say anything more as he saw Satoshi reaching out his hand to touch his head. 

“You have grown bigger, Sho-kun,” Satoshi said with a soft voice. It was the most gentle voice he had ever heard from someone. And hearing his own name from Satoshi’s lips, he felt strange. The sweet and warm smile that was adorning Satoshi’s face made Sho’s heart skip a beat. He smiled, he couldn’t help. Satoshi had that kind of effect on him. Strangely he was the only one who managed to make him feel like this. Like he was honestly peaceful. The way Satoshi eased every dark thought inside Sho’s head with just being there and simply smiling, made Sho want to cry. Some blurry memories became vivid as he looked at Satoshi’s face. His touch hasn’t changed at all. It was still peaceful, warm and trustworthy. Everytime he patted Sho’s head was like that. Everytime he gently whispered a good job to him. It was short. His time with Satoshi was short but so irreplaceable for him. Sho gulped, “How did I forget you when you were so precious to me?” left his lips before he could even realize. 

Satoshi blinked to those words. But he didn’t say anything. Which made Sho feel worse. Why wasn’t he saying anything? He should be angry with Sho… Because he was aware that he hurt Satoshi with forgetting him. 

“It doesn’t matter, Sho-kun,” Satoshi said after which seemed like forever to Sho. 

“It does --” he started but the look in Satoshi’s eyes stopped him from going further. 

“It doesn’t because it really doesn’t matter. You can forget me and that’s okay, as long as you don’t want me to forget _you._ ”

Sho’s eyes went wide. He didn’t know what he exactly meant but he couldn’t dare to ask either. Something in Satoshi’s voice, made him feel strange. There weren’t any words to describe this feeling other than strange. It was a moment which words were incompetent. He tried to swallow the accumulated emotions back in his throat, then took a deep breath and tried to change the subject. “So this is your house?” Sho asked turning around to examine the little garden. Calling that place as a garden was wrong, to be honest. It looked like a piece of paradise more than a garden. It was a safe opening that created by lots of old oak trees that lined together. There was an old wooden hut in the farthest corner of the garden, which was specially guarded by a big willow tree. You could hear the soothing sound of water from somewhere even though there was no water could be seen around. 

And the flowers. Oh, God. There was every kind of flowers in the garden making it seem like it was painted by the hands of God. There were a lot of flowers gracing the garden. So many colours were filling everywhere and Sho didn’t know that many colours have actually existed. He was surprised a single garden can consist of so many colours and flowers in one place without seeming disorganized. But no, they were blended perfectly and nothing seemed out of place; making an amazing harmony. 

“No,” Satoshi answered calmly. “I am just looking after it.”

“Really?” Sho asked confused. “Then where are you living?” 

“Here,” Satoshi answered calmly again. 

It didn’t make any sense. Sho sighed. “Are you perhaps trying to say that you are living here in exchange for looking after the garden?” Sho tried to reason Satoshi’s words. 

Satoshi simply nodded. _This man is still bad with words after all this time,_ Sho thought and couldn’t help himself to laugh merrily. One more thing that hasn’t changed about Satoshi at all. 

“You are still smart, Sho-kun,” said Satoshi with a sweet smile covering up his face. 

“And you still don’t know how to talk,” Sho pointed out. 

Satoshi didn’t seem to affect from Sho’s comments as he simply shrugged. “It’s okay, you understand me.”

Sho sighed dramatically. “You are hopeless.” 

Satoshi laughed softly. 

“Show me around then,” Sho demanded. “Since I came a long way to find you, I guess I deserve a special treat.” 

But Satoshi stiffened to his words. “I… can’t… She won’t like it…” He mumbled more likely to himself than Sho. 

“She? Who?” Sho asked carefully. 

“She… The-- I mean, the owner of this garden,” Satoshi stopped himself from calling her name. 

Sho looked confused. “But… I guess… It should be okay…” Satoshi said eyeing Sho anxiously. _The Witch isn’t here… She died many centuries ago,_ the monster reminded himself firmly. However, her docile monster was still looking after her garden loyally after all those years. 

“I don’t want to cause you trouble,” Sho said carefully. 

“No! I mean, you won’t… She won’t know…” 

Sho wanted to ask more, he wanted to know who he was talking about and more than that he wanted to know what was scaring him like that. But before he could, Satoshi tugged his hand as he dragged him towards the garden. 

They stopped in front of a blue flower bed. Sho kneeled in front of the beautiful flowers with blue leaves that surrounded the yellow middle. The small blue flowers looked so fragile yet they were standing graciously. “What is this?” Sho asked. 

Satoshi waited for a moment before speaking. His eyes were on the flowers. He was looking deeply into the flower as if he was communicating with it. Sho somehow didn’t like that expression on his face. It was distanced and didn’t feel right. It didn’t feel like he was looking at Satoshi. “You know flower language?” Satoshi asked suddenly instead of answering Sho’s question. 

Sho shook his head as an answer. He had no idea about flowers. For a moment he felt ignorant but then again, he never had any interest in flowers; let the meaning behind them. 

Satoshi laughed softly. “Too bad,” he said. 

“Then tell me about it. I am good at learning, I can assure you,” Sho said calmly. He wanted to know so badly because he somehow felt if he knew about it, it would make sense why Satoshi looked that lonely. 

“I will tell you one day,” Satoshi said nearly inaudible. 

“Tell me now,” Sho tried to insist. 

“We have to go.”

“But--”

“It will be dark and dangerous,” Satoshi cut in as Sho tried to protest. “You have friends, they will be worried.” 

Sho couldn’t argue with this. He finally realized that he was gone for almost a day now. But at the same time, he didn’t want to leave Satoshi. “Come with me,” he said suddenly. Satoshi looked troubled but Sho didn’t back down. “Satoshi, come with me.”

“To where?” Satoshi asked looking straight into his eyes. Sho’s lips turned into a thin line. _To where?_

“To the city, with me,” He said suddenly. He wasn’t even sure what he was saying but that was the first thing that came to his mind. 

“You know that I can't,” Satoshi smiled softly at him. 

“Why not? Satoshi, tell me about it, please,” Sho didn’t even care that he sounded like he was pleading anymore. 

“I belong here, Sho-kun,” Satoshi told him with patience. “And you belong to the city.” 

Sho felt his heart beating painfully in his chest. _Why?_ He wanted to ask that but he couldn’t because he knew that Satoshi wouldn’t answer even if he asks. “Then let me stay with you,” Sho blurted out suddenly, even surprising himself. Satoshi didn’t look like


	4. Excitement

_After The Witch’s death, the monster decided to leave his protected forest for the first time in his life. Leaving the heavenly garden of The Witch behind, he walked and walked until the trees could no longer be seen. When he reached the borderline of the thick forest, a little part of him wanted to go back. Since that was the natural for him. He wanted to return that isolated but safe garden, which was created by the magic of The Witch. Living in the forest with his creator was the only thing that he knew in his whole life. However, he was reminded of the cruel fact again. The fact that his creator had died. She died, leaving him alone in the world; which she wasn't there anymore. He was out of her shadow now. She wasn’t there anymore to stop him… His heartbeat fastened as the thought of seeing outside filled his mind. Seeing the world without her instruction felt strange but also tempting. What was this feeling? What was this weird but pleasant feeling?_

_That was the first time that the monster felt **excited**._

 

***

 

Their return was silent. Sho couldn’t bring himself to say anything as he felt bitter about everything. However, at the same time, he also felt very peaceful. Being next to Satoshi felt strangely right. 

When they left the forest and stepped into a chaos, Sho blinked with surprise. “What’s going on?” he asked Satoshi who was walking a step away from him. Satoshi simply shrugged, making it more confusing for Sho. As they walked to their camping place, Sho saw a police car and not long after that, he also saw Aiba and Jun talking to a police. They noticed him and Satoshi coming out of the woods pretty fast.

The moment they saw Sho, who was looking completely fine; Aiba ran towards him for a bear hug while crying his heart out, saying he is glad that Sho is alive and Jun silently scolded him for disappearing like that. After they dismissed police when Sho explained everything, there was no one who could stop Jun.

“And what were you thinking to leave without saying a word? Do you know how worried we were?! We even called the camping management to send some people to look for you!” Jun talked non stop while he also tried to console Aiba.

“I am sorry!” Sho said with regret as he knew that arguing with Jun right now will bring him nothing but demolition.

“Why the hell are you always becoming a forest lover whenever we come here!?” Jun grumbled irritatedly. “And you,” he turned to Aiba with a scary face. “Stop crying!”

“I told you, you like wandering around the forest,” said Satoshi who has been very silent until that moment, making everyone jump on their place. He was standing next to Sho for this whole time but it seems like he was very good at erasing his own existence.

After a moment of silence which caused by Satoshi’s sudden claim, Jun asked finally. “And who is this?”

Sho didn’t really have an idea about how to introduce him. “Um… This is… Well… Satoshi?”

Jun heaved a breath of irritation. “You don’t even know who saved your ass? God, who are you and what have you done to our Sho?” He snorted. Then he turned to Satoshi, a lot calmer than before. “I am deeply sorry that you have to see our embarrassing conversation, my name is Matsumoto Jun,” he bowed respectfully. “Thank you very much for helping Sho.”

Satoshi blinked with surprise as Jun bowed to him however he didn’t say anything contending himself with a simple nod.

“And my name is Aiba Masaki! Thank you for saving Sho-chan! What would we do if he were to eaten by a tiger?!” Aiba exclaimed with horror.

“You don’t have to worry about tigers, there’s nearly no tiger in this forest but I can’t promise for snakes,” Satoshi said calmly making everyone look at him with surprise.

“Wait, is there any tigers in the forest?” Sho asked, “No, wait, more than tigers, are there really snakes in the forest?”

Satoshi nodded calmly.

“Oh my God,” Sho couldn’t contain his shock.

“Why are you surprised? The forest belonged them before you came,” Satoshi asked calmly. “That’s why I don’t like campers.”

“But you are also a camper yourself, aren’t you?” Aiba asked dumbfounded.

“Yes!” Sho claimed louder than he actually liked because of the panic. “He is also a camper; I mean he is the survivor type!”

“AH! It’s like that!!” Aiba said with his sunshine smile returning to his face, but he could feel Jun’s piercing gaze on himself. For a moment, Sho cursed for Jun’s sharp instincts. However, he was also glad that Jun choose to not to say anything.

“So, Satoshi-san, as a thank you; would you like to eat with us tonight?” Jun suggested politely.

“He will,” Sho said before Satoshi could answer. Their eyes met for a second and Sho smiled to Satoshi. For a moment, Satoshi tensed but no one noticed it. That smile still had the same effect on the monster. _Just a night,_ the monster thought. _After that, I will have to go back to be the monster. Just a night, I want to stay as a human just a night._

The night fell quickly while they eat their meal. Sho was extremely talkative while Satoshi barely said anything and Sho could see that Jun was getting more and more suspected of Satoshi.

“So, Satoshi-san, what is your job?” Jun asked directly Satoshi.

“He is-” Sho tried to answer but Jun cut him in.

“I am asking to Satoshi-san, not you,” he said narrowing his eyes.

“I am a florist,” Satoshi answered without any hesitation.

“Florist?” Sho asked before he could stop himself.

Ohno smiled softly at his surprise. Of course it was a lie, for now, however, he was a florist once. “Yeah,” he said calmly.

“It suits him, right Jun-pon?” Aiba said merrily.

“Yeah, it suits you, Satoshi-san,” Jun answered calmly while his eyes never left Sho. And for Sho, he was avoiding to meet Jun’s eyes with all his might.

“By the way, Satoshi-san where do you work for right now?” Aiba asked suddenly. “Do you perhaps own your place?”

“I am looking after someone’s garden right now,” Satoshi said firmly. Sho flinched a little as he heard the mention of the garden but didn’t say anything. “It's a private work.”

“Oh! Then you must be good at your work!” Aiba sang happily.

The night continued with some lighter chatting. After Jun stopped cornering both Satoshi and Sho with his questions everything seemed to become more enjoying. They even made Satoshi laugh out loud. And, _oh God_ , it was the best sound Sho had ever heard in his whole life. However, like every good thing, this also had to come to an end as the night became thicker.

“I am going back at noon tomorrow,” Sho said when they stand face to face for their goodbyes. Sho looked at him with hopeful eyes, waiting for him to say something. Waiting for him to say that he will come with Sho or at least he will come to see him off. But Satoshi stayed silent, looking afar. As if he didn't hear what Sho said, pretending like everything is normal… “Say something, Satoshi,” Sho whispered as a heavy feeling occupied his chest.

“This is a goodbye then, Sho-kun,” Satoshi said softly after a moment of silence which drowned Sho in it. He reached out his hand to pat Sho’s head. “I am glad I got to see you, for once again.” Sho couldn’t bring himself to say anything. He felt tears build in his eyes. Satoshi smiled when he saw his tears, “Why are you even crying? You will go back to your old life, to the life you created with your own hands.”

“But you will not be there…” Sho felt powerless like he was 10 again.

Satoshi stroke his head firmly. His smile didn’t flinch. “Everything will go back to normal. I haven’t been there before and I won’t be there now, that’s it.”

“Satoshi…” Sho started, however, Satoshi cut him.

“You have to live your life, Sho-kun, without me,” was the last words of him as he turned his back to Sho and walked into the night without looking back.

 

***

 

 _The night will be long,_ thought the monster. Knowing the fact that, it’s the last night he is spending his life as Satoshi and everything will be over with dawn wouldn’t let him sleep. He returned to The Witch’s garden, where he is nothing but the monster. He sat in front of the flowerbed where little blue flowers bloomed solemnly. Those little, ephemeral blue flowers have originally belonged to the monster. He was the one who planted those little flowers after The Witch’s death. The Witch never had any interest towards those fleeting, small flowers which the monster loved with his all might. He smiled bitterly, reaching out to touch one of the small flowers.

“I don’t suggest you be here,” the monster said without turning his head to see who his visitor is. He already knew.

“I am out of the border so I am safe,” his visitor replied with a stern voice. “You are not a human, aren’t you?”

The monster didn’t say anything. He lowered his head, his eyes never leaving the little blue flowers. “Are you going to say that to Sho?” he asked softly.

“I won’t,” his visitor said. “But I also won’t forgive you if anything happens to Sho-san.”

The monster finally stood up from his place, turning his head to his visitor who had a rigid expression on his face. “What do you mean by that?” The monster asked.

“He entered the garden, isn’t he? And you didn’t stop him,” Jun said with a deep frown on his face.

“I wasn’t here when he came,” The monster mumbled.

“This garden is cursed…” Jun said ignoring the monster. “I had no idea that it actually existed, but here I am talking with the puppet of The Witch in her cursed garden.”

“You know about her?” The monster asked as he tried to catch the other’s eyes.

“Every single wizard knows about her… How she hated the world, how she created a monster which is immortal; to curse every human being even after her death,” Jun said coldly. “But as far as I see, you are not dangerous like her.”

The monster lowered his head. “Everything is as you said. I am created by her,” he closed his eyes while trying to stop his heart which is beating painfully in his chest. “I am created by her, and for her. But she refused to take me with her to afterlife… It’s not because she wanted to curse every human being, it’s because she wanted to curse me; her broken puppet which cannot comply with her wishes.”

Jun’s eyes widened as he listened the monster without saying anything. “You are a wizard, right?” The monster asked suddenly. Jun nodded. “Then can you destroy this garden? Together with me.” Jun frowned but the monster continued, “Her powers are weakening after decades, the proof is Sho who found the garden. You must be able to destroy it.”

“I can’t,” Jun answered firmly. “I am not that strong. Magical blood is not as strong as the era she lived.”

The monster couldn’t utter any word to that.

“I just hope The Witch won’t hunt Sho because he entered the garden…” Jun whispered calmly. “I won’t forgive you if anything happens to him. But I know he won’t forgive me if I manage to destroy you here.” He said looking into the monster’s eyes. With that, he turned his back to the monster and left without saying anything more.

 

***

Sho sighed heavily as he closed the door of his house behind him. His house looked somehow cold and dark, making him smile bitterly. It wasn’t even a day he spent with Satoshi; there was no meaning of missing him. He threw his backpack to the other side of the room and he lied down to his sofa. The silence was soothing, peaceful but also lonely. And that’s why when his phone rang, he felt really grateful for it. He answered without even looking at the screen.

“Yes?”

 _“Oh, our boss is back!”_ Nino exclaimed from the other side of the line.

“Oh, Nino! Hey, I’m back,” Sho said smiling a little. Thinking that he was actually pretty lonely, hearing Nino was somehow soothing.

 _“I can see that, I mean, I hear that whatever,”_ Nino laughed. _“Wanna hang out?”_

Sho laughed, “By hanging out, you mean watching you as you play your games?”

 _“Just on the point,”_ Nino cackled. _“But I have beer, come on.”_

“Alright,” Sho accepted quickly.

 _“Eh? Really? I mean really, really?”_ Nino sounded very surprised.

“Yeah, I am coming,” Sho said calmly as he hung up his phone and stuffed it to his pocket and get out of his house to visit next door, which happened to be Nino’s. Nino opened the door hurriedly with a shocked expression.

“Who are you and what have you done to Sakurai Sho?” He asked as the first thing when he opened the door.

“What?” Sho asked confused.

“Nothing, come in,” Nino laughed as he let Sho pass.

“Have you tidied your room?” Sho asked as he noticed the clean house.

“Oh, yeah, my mother came to visit so I kind of had to,” Nino dismissed Sho as he went to the kitchen to take the beers. “By the way, I am surprised that you still haven’t asked about work.”

“I must be really tired then,” Sho laughed. “Is everything alright with work?”

“Who do you think you are asking? Of course, it is,” Nino said casually leaving a can beer in front of Sho and sitting in front of his TV with another beer in his hands.

“As expected from vice-president,” Sho laughed as he stood up from the sofa and went to sit next to Nino. "By the way Jun was upset that you haven't came to the camp." 

Nino eyed him suspiciously as he sat down next to him but then shrugged as an answer. "No way. I hate outside, there's no way I will come willingly to a camp which is literally in the middle of nowhere. And you sure nothing happened?”

“Yeah, why?” Sho tried to stay calm and natural but Nino closed his game turning to Sho.

“Spill,” Nino demanded.

“Honestly, I have nothing,” Sho tried but Nino rolled his eyes as if saying _who the hell are you trying to fool your vice-president_. And after a moment of silence, Sho spilled the beans. “Okay, I met someone.”

“Who?”

“His name is Satoshi,” Sho said calmly.

“And?”

“And I don’t know anything more…”

“What do you mean by that? Haven’t you asked where he lives or what is his job?”

“I couldn’t… I mean I really don’t know if he is living in the city or so. But he said he was a florist.” Sho said honestly. Then suddenly remembered the little talk between him and Satoshi. “Nino, is there any possiblity that you know flower language?”

Nino seemed surprised by the sudden question. “No, why?”

Sho sighed defeatedly. “He showed me a flower. Which is strange because I feel like I have seen it somewhere but I really can’t remember where or when.”

“What kind of flower was it?” Nino asked while fishing his phone out of his pocket.

Sho looked suspiciously at him while he opened up the browser. “Little blue flowers,” he said while Nino typed hurriedly and clicked on the first page that came up. 

“ _41 Types of Blue Flowers_? Wow, that much!?” Nino mumbled as he showed the screen to Sho. He looked at the screen while Nino went through every flower one by one. Sho had a feeling if he find that flower, he will be able to understand about Satoshi’s behaviours more. Somehow he felt like those little blue flowers held the key of everything which is not really possible. That’s why he looked at every single flower carefully. His eyes widened as the flower he saw in that garden came up suddenly. “This!! This is it!!”

“ _Forget-me-not_?” Nino read the title of the flower. “Wow, it has such a meaningful name.”

“Forget-me-not…” Sho mumbled emotions piled up at the back of his throat while Nino browsed the name of the flower. “True and undying love, remembrance during partings or after death, a connection that lasts through time, reminders of your favorite memories or time together with another person…” Nino read the meanings loudly then looked at Sho who was looking dumbfounded and pretty shaken.

“Nino, I am going back,” Sho said suddenly getting up from his place and leaving Nino’s house without saying anything more.

 _You idiot..! Why the hell are you pretending as strong when you were that lonely?!_ All those time… All those time, when Satoshi said it was okay to forget him with a smile on his face seemed suddenly so heartbreaking to him. _I forgot about you… I forgot about you when you were so dear to me… I am such a horrible person,_ Sho thought angrily and sadly as he closed Nino’s door and turned to his door, only to find a small bouquet of forget-me-nots tied with a red ribbon, in front of his door. Sho kneeled to pick them up, feeling the texture of the small flowers. “You are such an idiot, Satoshi… I will surely punch you the next time I see you…” he whispered with a lonely smile on his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: My deepest apologies for the delay... First, my computer took some time to get fixed then the Japanese contest came and then my internet broken. It was a hell for me lol  
> For those who wants to know about the flowers [Forget-me-not](http://www.flowermeaning.com/forget-me-not-flower-meaning/)  
> I guess I will use this flower in the story pretty much so I apologize from advance  
> Hope everyone likes the chapter! Lots of love to you all!


	5. Betrayal

_The monster felt a burning sensation stab on his forehead. It took him a bit to understand what was going on when a hot, thick liquid slide down exactly from the place where the big stone landed. He stayed silent, raising his hand to touch the thick liquid, wondering what was it. His delicate fingers, stained with red. It was blood. **His blood.** Strange, the monster thought at the back of his mind. So I have the same blood color as you… However, it wasn’t that simple as he heard the angry, scared voice of the villagers. “Monster!!” Some of them were even holding their harrows, some of them; richer ones were ready to attack him with their swords and he could hear some of them were hurrying to get their rifles. The monster’s eyes widened as he realized what was going on. The monster felt a different emotion invade his heart. It was horrible, hard and it wasn’t like anything he had felt before. A deep, sharp and heavy feeling invaded his whole being. _

_That was the first time that the monster felt_ **_betrayed._ **

 

***

 

When Sho opened his door next morning, ready to go to find Satoshi with his bag and all, he found Nino in front of him with crossed arms. He had a stern look on his face. “Where do you think you are going?” He asked with narrowed eyes. 

Sho blinked with surprise, “Nino, why are you here?”

Nino clicked his tongue. “Don’t return my question with another question. Where do you think you are going?”

“Um… Work?” Sho replied with a confused look on his face. 

Nino squinted. “With that rucksack?” 

Sho couldn’t say anything to that. Nino heaved a sigh. “I don’t care what you are planning but I am taking you to work today. You are the manager if you still remember it, we need your signs and such things to be able to work,” Nino explained patiently. “So, you are coming with me to work today even if you don’t like,” Nino said finally, leaving no place for any arguments. 

Sho couldn’t do anything but letting Nino drag himself to work. 

Sho never thought that there will be a day that his work would feel inconvenient. He liked working. He was basically a workaholic and so many people hated this habit of his. He didn’t actually had any reasons for being like this. Maybe it was because of he simply didn’t have any other things to do. Work kept him busy and he felt useful. Nino needed holidays from time to time especially after they finish a big project for them because he needed to relieve all the pressure inside him with a long gaming session and beer. However, Sho wouldn’t really feel like he needed any kind of holidays if he is not dead sick. Even with that, he actually kept working from his home. However that day, he really wanted to other things than working. Like going to find Satoshi. But then again, he was making Nino work alone for three days already. 

They were a small architecture office which mostly did jobs for other small construction companies. Sho and Nino met in the university. They were both basically living in the library since Nino’s small student apartment's heating system wasn’t working well and Sho simply liked being in the library. Nino was in his second year while Sho was a fourth-year student. They were both in the same department so their friendship was fast but safe. They hang out together all the time they had and eventually Nino got into Sho’s small friend group which included Aiba and Jun. 

After Sho’s graduation, he worked with some prestigious architectures and when Nino graduated finally; Sho decided to open his little office together with Nino. Their office started as a small job with just him and Nino but now they had other 3 full-time employees and some part-timers who are mostly students. Since both Sho and Nino knew how was being a student, they actually liked helping their part-time employees and having them around. 2 of 3 full-time employees were also started as a part-timer. They managed to hold in the business world somehow and Nino was smart and talented so he never had any problems with trusting his back when it comes to Nino. So he couldn’t say anything to Nino when he wanted him at work. 

When they get to their small but neat office, Sho was immediately drowned in the work. Nino may be a very talented person but still, everything needed to be reviewed by Sho eventually. 3 days worth of work had already been waiting for him on his desk while he had been thinking about Satoshi for that 3 days. Once he started working, he didn’t even had any time to remember Satoshi or he thought so.

He kept reviewing the projects while trying to concentrate on them but it was impossible. Satoshi kept popping in his mind at most unexpected times. Those forget-me-nots were resting in a fairly big glass of water while he has to finish his work before leaving to find him again. But this time, he was sure that he won’t forget Satoshi no matter what. Somehow, this time he had that confidence. _Not this time,_ he thought stubbornly. He kept thinking about him as he continued to work until Nino’s voice called him back to the reality. 

“This part is wrong,” he said seriously. 

“Which part?” Sho asked blinking with surprise while he tried to take papers back from Nino. 

Nino heaved a long sigh. He honestly couldn’t say that he liked this new version of Sho. From the very first time, Sho had been a very respected senior and a very good friend for Nino. He had been working with him for nearly ten years now and he had been very good as a boss even though he was acting a bit stupid sometimes. He was honest, hardworking and very clever. However now, he was acting like a high school boy who is in love. “It’s not like you making little mistakes like this,” Nino said showing the calculation mistake to Sho. “I mean okay, apparently you are in love right now and I am sorry for keeping you from running after your mysterious prince but man, this is not like you. You are what? 36?” Nino didn’t actually wanted to be harsh on him but he also knew that if Sho wouldn’t focus his work right now, there will be problems. 

Sho, on the other hand, seemed very surprised with his very own mistake. “Sorry!” he said with panic. “I will fix it now!” 

“Okay, stop now,” Nino stopped him quickly. “Let’s make a deal,” he said sitting in front of him seriously. Sho looked at him puzzled. “If you finish last 3 days work, I will let you take a whole week as day-off. But I really need you to work on these properly,” he said sternly. “Oh god,” he groaned. “Look what have you done to me?! I am speaking like you now!” Nino grumbled. 

Sho let out a heartful laugh to that. “Sorry for making you the voice of reason,” he said between his laughter. “Thank you, Nino.” 

“Never mind,” Nino said dismissively. “Someone needs to be the voice of reason anyway,” he grumbled before he left Sho’s room. 

Sho looked behind Nino, feeling very thankful for his understanding and sharp nature.

 

***

 

“How long are you planning to continue working like this?” he was taken to the reality by Nino’s voice again. Sho looked at the clock which is hanging on the wall. 22:10 

“Wow,” he mumbled. 

“Yeah wow, you haven’t stand up from your desk for a while already, you realize that?” Nino said with a raised eyebrow. “I didn’t know you wanted to meet your prince on the white horse so badly,” he added mockingly. 

Sho felt a hotness creeping up to his face so he hurriedly lowered his head to the papers. “Not at all, I just wanted to finish these,” he mumbled. 

Nino sighed. “Everyone has left so I am leaving too,” he said. “Don’t overwork yourself, I don’t want that vacation to turn out as a hospital visit.” 

Sho laughed. “I will leave too as soon as I finish this.” 

Nino nodded. “Well then, see you tomorrow?” 

“I won’t leave without saying anything to you, so yes, see you tomorrow.” He said as Nino made his way to the door and left without saying anything more. Sho sighed. A long night was waiting for him. 

 

***

 

When Nino finally reached his home it was already 01:30 am. After hanging out with his rare friends which he couldn’t refuse anymore, eating out for a while and returning his home; Nino honestly felt drained. _Man,_ he thought. _Socializing is tiring as hell._ He directly threw himself to his comfortable sofa. The comfortable silence and the comfortable sofa was about to lull him into sleep when his door ringed. Groaning, he stood up from his place and went to open his door feeling very grumpy about it already. _What now?_ He thought as he opened his door only to find Jun in front of it. 

“Hey,” Nino greet him with a surprised look on his face. Jun smiled a little. “It’s rare to have you on my door like this, I mean, suddenly,” he mumbled as he let Jun enter his apartment. 

“I was actually visiting Sho,” he said calmly. 

“Oh, is Sho back from work? Wow, he is fast,” Nino mumbled while he led Jun into the living room. 

“He is not,” Jun said suddenly with a deep frown on his face. “I called him an hour before and he didn’t answer so I came but he didn’t answer his door too so I thought maybe he is here…” 

Nino shrugged. “He insisted on finish his papers so I left him at the office,” he said calmly. “Wanna drink something?” He asked casually, already preparing some beer for both of them. 

“Is he alone?” Jun asked nervously. 

“Yeah, why?” Nino frowned, Jun wasn’t someone who would panic easily. But Jun didn’t say anything as he rushed to the door. 

“Sorry, Nino, thanks for letting me in,” he said hurriedly as he wore his shoes. Surprised, Nino rushed behind him and tugged his arm to stop him. 

“Stop, stop, stop! What’s happening?” Jun opened his mouth but closed not being able to explain himself. Nino exhaled a deep breath and put on his shoes. “Okay, I am coming too then.”

“But-” Jun tried to protest but Nino cut him immediately. 

“He is my friend too.” Nino said sternly. 

Sighing, Jun gave up on arguing since this was more important than convincing Nino to stay at home. He led the way to his car, trying to prevent himself from panicking. _It can’t be right..?_ He tried to inhale a deep breath. 

Unlike other children, he had been educated as a wizard since he was a small child. He had been raised with the stories of The Witch who hated humans. 

The Witch was the first one who had the magical blood in her from the very first time she had born. Her parents who feared from her powers left her alone in a forest which was famous for its deepness. Once you get inside the forest, no one could leave it. However, with her powers, the forest had become her friend as it protected The Witch and provided her a lonely kingdom. When The Witch has grown older, also her powers grown stronger she started to yearn for another life form. She left the forest, find other humans like herself. The thought of rejection, never crossed her mind as she met other humans only to be called as a monster.

The Witch, who gave many gifts to humans, couldn’t stand the rejection from her own kind, returned to the forest. And she decided to create a monster who is like herself… But she was a human too no matter what; which she hated with all her might, so she refused to create another human being like herself. She made the monster without the flaws of humans. The monster which had an eternal lifespan was stronger and faster than any other human being. However it’s said that it lacked everything humanly. It was a monster who created from the hatred; it had a created heart with no human feelings inside it. 

Of course, her monster was quite famous. Even after The Witch had left this world, it continued to live, inheriting her hatred towards the humanity. Or that was how it's supposed to be... He never thought there will be one day that he will meet the monster. Jun had never thought he would find a vulnerable monster in front of him. He gulped when he remembered the time he saw the lonely figure of the monster in front of the forget-me-nots. 

He never thought that the monster would ask him to kill him. 

But one thing was certain, The Witch had her garden cursed for humans. It was one of the most dangerous places to go since her magic continued to live even after ages of her death. _One shall enter this garden, will face the death._ He remembered those words way too clearly. It was his first lesson as a wizard. A must-not-forget. 

Jun’s eyes widened as he turned the corner. The building which had Sho’s office in it was wrapped in flames and he could see the fire-fighters trying to keep people away from the building. 

“What’s this?” He heard Nino whispering in horror, faintly. 

_No way, no way, no way,_ he thought leaving the car as soon as he stopped. This can’t be happening! “SHO!” He shouted and ran towards the building only to be stopped by one of the fire-fighters. 

“Sir, I am sorry, I can’t let you pass!” The firefighter said. He could barely hear Nino trying to make his way hysterically too. 

“Let me pass! My friend is inside!” Jun shouted. 

“I am sorry sir, even we can’t get close to fires!” 

“Let me-” Jun couldn’t finish his words as the fifth floor exploded. _The fifth floor,_ Jun thought indistinctly. “SHO!” Jun screamed at the top of his lungs as his voice disappeared into the noise of the explosion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: My deepest apologies for the delay... again. Yeah, really sorry. After many technical issues this time I had lots of health problems and also funeral things. So sorry for the delay T-T I will be quick to upload next one! Sorry for the cliffhanger!!


	6. Lost

_For decades the monster had thought that his eternal life was nothing but a curse. Reminding himself every single moment that he was a created life form only for the purpose of making The Witch happy. He didn’t have any other meaning, he didn’t have any other things. A created heart which contained nothing but The Witch’s hatred towards humans._

_However, when the monster saved a little boy in the forest on that day, he strangely felt like his time was moving again. It was nothing like the feelings he had for The Witch, it was nothing like he had felt until now. It was as if he had another purpose of living in that world. As if, someone still needed him even after The Witch’s death._

_But was that really possible? He was helping another human being, who rejected him like they did to The Witch. But then again, it didn’t matter to the monster at all… He was a failure for his creator after all. He was created to hate humans, yet he yearned to become one of them. A monster who can’t fulfill his purpose of existing. So the monster never felt regretful for saving the little boy with big brown eyes. To his surprise, the monster had never met a human who is this different. The boy was nothing like he had known. His eyes were shining deeply, his smile was the warmest thing the monster had ever seen in his long life._

_The boy reminded him of his creator, yet he was different._

_He was dear, yet that scared the monster._

_His voice crushed his silence as if the monster was living for hearing that voice for this whole time. The monster felt strange, also scared…._

_That was the first time that happened the monster felt **lost**. _

__  
***

 

Sho stretched as he pushed his chair back a little. Small wheels of his office chair, made a weird sound in the empty office and he groaned a little feeling the protest of his muscles. He looked at the clock which was ticking lazily. 01:35

 _Wow,_ he thought. _It surely took me a lot to finish everything._ “I should go back to sleep. So that I can leave tomorrow early,” he mumbled. 

_So that I can see Satoshi,_ he thought with a soft smile on his face. It has been a day since he last saw him but he already missed him before he could even realize. There was no need to deny that he actually harbored feelings for Satoshi though he didn't quite agree with Nino either. It wasn't like he was crazily in love with him but he had a very strong urge to see him, speak to him. Especially after he found out the meaning of forget-me-not. 

Back in his mind, he knew something was terribly wrong with Satoshi. Something which is beyond Sho’s understanding. The way Satoshi hasn't changed even after 26 years and the way he saved Sho from the dead tree which didn't seem weird to a 10-year-old boy felt horribly wrong to the grown-up Sho. However, even that didn't stop the urge to see Satoshi. He didn't know why, but only seeing him once again mattered to Sho. _I can ask him, when I saw him,_ he thought. The thought of seeing him simply made Sho’s smile widen. 

That was when Sho smelled a burned scent. He frowned and stood up from his chair to see what's happening out of the office. He stood up from his place and opened the main door of the office just to see the wild, hot, red flames already rising to the ceiling. A heavy smoke hit his face harshly making him cough. 

His first instinct was closing the door while still coughing. _What should I do?_ He thought with panic rising in his body. _Fire department!_ He thought running towards his desk to get his phone. He hurriedly tried to find his phone under the pile of papers. “Where is it, where is it?!” he mumbled with panic. But when he found his phone, he saw it is already out of power. “Damn it!” he cursed and threw his phone on the desk unceremoniously. “Fire alarm! It should contact the fire department…” he thought, relaxing a little bit only to realize that the alarm never went off. Sho’s eyes widened with fear. He was trapped in the building, probably alone and no one had any idea about the fire in the building. He was all alone in the building, in the fire. “Think about it, think about it, Sho! You are supposed to be smart!” he forced his brain to work. “Fire escape!” he remembered suddenly, but it was at the opposite end of the hallway. There was no way for him to pass the fire to the fire exit… He looked around him. The dark smoke leaking under the door and quickly filling the room with carbon dioxide. Sho coughed again. Every breath he is taking becoming hard. 

“What should I do? What should I do?” he voices hysterically. But apparently, his brain stopped working when the ferocious flames started to eat the wooden door, swiftly making its way to Sho. 

_Smoke. Fire. Hot._

This was all he could think of as the fire cut his escape and banned him from doing anything. Sho coughed as he couldn’t stand breathing the smoke. 

_Smoke. Fire. Hot. I need to run._

It was hot and slowly he was losing his mind. He had to find an escape, however, every way was blocked as he tried to think. He was panicking as the wildfire attacked every corner making Sho back away to the wall. He coughed again. Breathing was getting harder with every second. 

_Smoke. Fire. Hot. I am scared._

Somehow he could faintly hear the voice of siren of fire-fighters. With a sudden idea, Sho tried to open the window with the need for oxygen. He tugged the window handle desperately trying to open them up. However, it didn't work as the window stayed stable like there's no way to open it. 

He hoisted the closest chair and tried to broke the window but he already started to feel dizzy with all the smoke and fire around him.

_Smoke. Fire. Hot… Satoshi!_

He slid onto floor feeling his strength leaving his body, _I don't want to die without seeing you. I don't want to die before I reach you…_

_Satoshi, Satoshi!_

His mind was screaming his name. Sho coughed wildly, breathing was impossible anymore as the atrocious flames cornered him. “Satoshi,” he whispered lastly feeling his consciousness slipping away. He felt like he heard Satoshi’s voice from far away. 

 

***

 

It was fast. Even the monster who had seen the sumptuous days of The Witch was surprised how fast the fire grew. The monster was aware that it wasn't a normal fire, he knew this barbaric flames had been created by the wrath of The Witch… There was no way to stop this flames from moving to kill Sho… A hard knot of feelings locked in his throat. He tried to swallow the emotions, failing. This was his fault… Because he failed to realize that Sho might come to find him. He has failed to keep him safe! But he was not going to give up that easily. He went inside the building hurriedly, without being seen by anyone else. 

It was hot, but it didn’t matter to the monster. 

“I won't let you steal his life,” he said determinedly. The flames roared as if answering to his statement. The monster stepped into the fire, not even thinking further. He was perfectly aware that he was completely moving against his creator’s will. He was perfectly aware of it and he was determined to do so even if it leads him to his death. “I don't care, I have lived like you wanted me until now. I am your puppet, you can do anything you want to do to me but I won't let you kill him.” He said strongly. Even he didn’t know that he had that kind of strength. 

The cursed flames roared one more time attacking the monster and creating a wall in front of him just to prevent him from going further. He thought could hear his creator’s voice for a moment: _I gave you a life. You are mine. You have let me kill anyone I wanted. You can’t oppose my will._ The remainings of The Witch's wrath was speaking to him through the hot flames.

“That's right,” the monster said not even flinching because of the pain. “I have watched you kill a lot, I have let you kill a lot, but not this time. You can not kill Sho.” He continued his way, feeling the burning pain on his skin. He didn't stop, he hurried to the fifth floor to find Sho, to save him. 

When he finally reached the fifth floor, he wasn't surprised that the flames were stronger here. He knew that The Witch’s target was Sho. _I won't let you take him away from me,_ was the only thought in his mind as he made his way inside the flames. He was created perfectly. Undying, strong and fast. Knowing that fact is only an advantage for him. He didn't care the pain, he just cared about Sho. He just cared about saving him. He searched every corner of the fifth floor, slightly panicking every time that he couldn't find Sho. “Sho… Sho… Sho…” he mumbled his name finally turning a corner and going into the last room he saw Sho lying on the ground. He ran towards him quickly taking him into his arms. Sho was taller than him but that didn't matter to the monster who is stronger than anyone. He lifted Sho in his arms, covering his body with his own slim body as much as he could. He pressed Sho’s body to himself, securing him and shield him from the flames with his own body. 

The flames roared once again. “I won't let you take him!” the monster shouted, the flames stopped moving for a moment as if surprised with the monster’s sudden defy and strength. 

The monster held Sho close to his body, hurrying to the exit. Very grateful for his speed which is very much above of the normal human speed. He needed to leave that building as soon as possible. Before The Witch could attack them again. However, the flames which seemed baffled for a moment suddenly roared with rage, just as they reached the exit. The monster felt a horrible pain in his back but even that didn't stop him from moving. The moment he set his step out of the building with Sho in his arms, the fifth floor exploded. The monster guarded Sho’s body with his. 

_I won't let you take him. I will never._

 

***

 

Jun couldn’t see his surroundings because of the tears that keep falling from his eyes. He screamed, tried to escape from the fire-fighters firm grip, failing every time. He could faintly hear that Nino was also shouting like him. The explosion made a lot of glass fly and fire-fighters guarded them both. However, Jun was not even in the shape to think other things. 

A horrible, ruthless feeling formed inside of his chest. _Guilt._

He had been trained to protect his friends from disasters. But at that very moment, he failed to protect Sho. Even when he knew something might happen to him… He couldn’t protect him. 

“Someone came out!!” 

Suddenly those words made their way to Jun’s ears. Jun looked up immediately to see what’s happening. Apparently, a miracle had happened and someone just came out before the explosion. Jun swiftly escaped from the sturdy grip of the fire-fighters and run towards the survivors. “SHO!” He shouted at the top of his lungs, immediately recognizing his friend who was hugged safely by someone else. Someone who had injured terribly. That someone looked up as soon as he heard Jun’s voice. _The monster!_ Jun thought bewilderedly. His eyes widened with surprise but he only stopped when he reached them. 

“You-” Jun started but the monster cut him. 

“Please, I beg of you,” he started still hugging Sho tightly. “I beg of you,” he repeated. “Please, keep him safe.” The monster was trembling. “I… I can’t let her kill him…” he stammered. “Promise me,” he looked straightly to Jun’s eyes. “Promise me that you will keep him safe.” 

Jun was speechless. He could see the gleaming tears in the monster’s eyes. _The monster which is created by The Witch had nothing but hatred inside of him,_ the story echoed inside Jun’s head. _It was not human, it only had a created heart with only hatred in it. It was merciless, caring nothing but The Witch’s orders. It was a puppet to kill humans. It was a puppet to satisfy The Witch. It would never oppose its master._

 _You are nothing like they had said,_ Jun thought. _You are not a monster._ A bitter feeling invading his heart. “I will,” Jun said reassuringly. “I promise I will keep him safe,” he repeated. 

Satoshi seemed relieved, dropping the firm grip on Sho’s body. He looked at the Sho’s face which is stained with dark smoke. They could hear fire-fighters and the medics shout. Satoshi let Sho’s body lie to the ground gently as if he is holding the most fragile flower in the Earth. Jun watched him as a crowd of medics surrounding them. They put an oxygen mask to Sho while they shouted for more supplies for Satoshi, however, Satoshi didn’t let them touch him. He leaned forward and kissed Sho’s forehead tenderly. “Keep him safe,” he said one last time, not looking at Jun, then he disappeared into the night. Jun felt his tears washing his face as he could do nothing but watch the empty space where Satoshi was standing a few seconds ago. 

_I will find a way,_ Jun thought determinedly. _I promise I will find a way…_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I did my best to be quick! lol my updating schedule is a mess, sorry for that everyone m(_ _)m hope everyone enjoys this one too!


	7. Tired

_The monster watched the seasons pass, he watched the forest getting old, he watched the people changing… He watched them from afar, at a safe distance while everything changed and left him behind._

_He was the only one who left behind without changing, without dying. He was out of the world's mercy as he watched the time flowing, leaving him alone. The feeling made his heartbeat was enough for him. He wanted everything to stop. He wanted this endless sameness so badly but there was nothing he could do. He has to continue living, only to be forgotten or be hated in the end. A miserable feeling invaded his soul…_

_That was the first time that the monster felt **tired.**_

***

 _So noisy,_ he thought as while his eyes were still closed. He could feel how heavy they were as they refused to be opened. Strangely he was feeling very tired; like his life has been sucked from his body and a little left behind. He could hear the voices of a lot of people around him, also sirens. _Sirens…? Sirens… Fire!_

The sudden realization shot his body with a rush of adrenaline. He forced his eyes open, just to see what kind of chaos happening around him though he couldn’t really understand what was going on. Apparently, his brain had given up on working. Nothing but a mere thought made sense: _I am still alive._

He tried to speak but his voice disappeared in the oxygen mask that was occupying his face. He held out his hand with difficulty to remove the mask from his face but someone noticed him before he could do anything. _Jun?_

Jun simply stopped his hand and shook his head as an answer. The last thing Sho had felt was Jun’s warm hand on his forehead before falling into a deep, dreamless sleep.

***

When they arrived at the hospital, Aiba has already been informed by Jun. He took care of everything which actually surprised Nino. As long as he knew Aiba, he was just a bubbly guy who liked to smile a lot. A bit clumsy and very easy-going. Probably more than everyone he had met. Despite being a doctor Aiba had a certain aura that made Nino feel at ease and now seeing that he was in-charge of everything only made Nino feel safe and sound. Or was it because he was a doctor? At that very moment, Nino honestly didn’t care about it.

Leaving everything aside, Nino simply went and sit down to the nearest hospital bank before he felt all the strength leaving his body. It was the first time that he realized that his hands were shaking uncontrollably. _Honestly, what a night,_ he thought. _What a crazy, implausible night._

“Hey, you alright?” Nino heard Jun’s voice and looked up to see how shaken he actually looked. _What a night,_ he thought again. Because he certainly didn’t expect to see a day where Matsumoto Jun would lose his composure like this. 

“Want me, to be honest? I am not alright at all,” Nino tried to sound as sarcastic as ever, however, his voice was weaker than it had ever been.

“Yeah,” Jun murmured as he sat down next to Nino. “I kind of feel you.”

For a moment they were both silent. Nino had a lot of things to ask. He wasn’t stupid, he knew something was going on there… Something that can’t be explained easily. However, he wasn’t sure if this was the right time or right place to ask things. He was pondering about; what to ask, how to ask, when to ask when Jun saved him from trouble.

“Go on,” Nino heard Jun’s voice, faint enough to make Nino doubt that he actually heard him.

Nino inhaled deeply. “Honestly, I don’t really know what to ask or more likely should I ask?”

“Let’s go somewhere else,” Jun suggested knowing that he had to explain things to Nino. He could fool everyone, every policemen, firemen and medic but he knew Nino was anything but an idiot to be fooled that easily.

Nino nodded and let Jun lead the way through the hallways of the hospital which only seemed deserted on this late night. They made their way to the rooftop. Nino realized that Jun was checking around for a moment to be sure that they were completely alone before turning to him.

“So…” Jun said not really knowing what to say.

“So…” Nino said repeated. He wasn’t really sure what to ask so he decided to let it go and ask whatever was his mind. “Who was the person that saved Sho from fire and how the hell did he disappear that fastly?” he asked in one go.

“Wow, you start with the hardest questions,” Jun looked at him as if he is troubled by it.

“I just asked what I saw,” Nino defended himself.

Jun inhaled deeply. “It’s really complicated, I mean, really…”

“Well, I guess I can try my best,” Nino said trying his best to be accommodating, however, he wasn’t really sure how much he could really take.

However, Jun didn’t seem really convinced. “Okay then… Is it okay if I go directly?” he asked before dropping the bomb. Nino nodded carefully. “I am a wizard,” Jun said bluntly before giving himself a time to back out.

“Yes, and I am Hagrid, nice to meet you,” Nino snorted.

“Stop it, I am not kidding,” Jun said.

“Today is not April the 1st, right?” Nino looked around to see anyone who is cooperating with Jun in this horrible joke.

“Look, Nino, I am neither joking nor lying!” Jun held Nino’s shoulder and forced him to look at his eyes. “Do you think I would lie to you when our friend was about to die in a fire?”

“No…” Nino murmured. And to be honest, Jun wasn’t someone who would mock Nino in a situation like this. “But this really doesn’t sound real.”

Jun heaved a sigh. “Want me to show you some tricks?”

Nino nodded reluctantly.

Jun once again checked around. “Give me your phone,” he demanded. Nino looked at him dumbfounded.

“Why do you want my phone?” he asked suspiciously.

Jun rolled his eyes, “Because if I use mine you would think that I prepared everything beforehand.”

Nino shrugged while he took out his phone which was stuffed securely in his left pocket. “Fair enough,” he said as he handed the phone to Jun and watched him curiously.

Jun took the phone from Nino and for a moment he looked like he wasn't sure about what to do. He sighed for the nth time in that night as he raised his hand above his head which was holding Nino's phone and before Nino could register what he was doing, Jun throw the phone to the ground with a great speed.

“What the hell are you doing?!” Nino exclaimed, jumping with surprise and rushing to get his phone. He whined when he saw many cracks on his screen. “Have you gone nuts?! What was this for?!” He examined his phone just to see if it's still working however his phone refused to answer him. Nino groaned with sadness. “Has your brain is fried in that fire instead of Sho’s or what?!”

“Give it to me,” Jun said calmly. Somehow seeing Nino like this amused him.

“So that you can destroy it completely? No, thanks!”

Jun rolled his eyes once again and took the phone from Nino with one swift move. Nino tried to get back his phone however after some struggle he simply gave up. He grumbled something which Jun couldn't hear well. Jun chuckled at how Nino's pout looked cute. But that was not the time to admire how adorable Nino looked so he made him sit down next to him and lied Nino's broken phone on his palm. He concentrated on the phone, trying to activate his magic on it.

The magic wasn't something like it was portrayed in movies. It was neither shiny nor appeared physically when you used it on something. It only had an effect on the wizard which felt like hot fluids rubbing inside of the person that used it. It was weird however a very pleasant feeling, like being one with the flow of everything and anything. If Jun were asked to describe the magic, he would only say it was something beyond of human acknowledge. Because there was no explanation how he was doing it or what was the trigger for it. That's why magic has been a secret after The Witch. Because humans tend to be scared of the things that can not be explained.

Nino watched the screen of his phone which lying on Jun's palm getting fixed gradually. The glass gets back together with a faint creaking voice in front of his eyes. Nino's eyes bulged with surprise and he looked at Jun only to see his eyes which were glowing with a gentle violet light. “Jun… You… your eyes…” Nino stammered. Jun smiled softly. Certainly, this was a lot to take in but Nino was handling it better than Jun had expected. It was a miracle that he didn't freak out and tried to run away as soon as he saw Jun's eyes. This was the only way to define someone as a wizard. The glowing light of magic was the only thing can be seen physically when someone using magic.

“Here,” Jun said as he returned the phone to him.

Curiously Nino checked the phone, first the screen then turned it in his hand to see if it was really his phone. It looked brand new, literally. Then he opened his lock to see it was working perfectly fine and nothing had happened to his data. “You even charged it? Oh my God, this is amazing!” he said with consternation. “Where have you been until now when our computers broke down?!”

“Will you stop treating me some kind of repairman?” Jun said trying to stay on the topic. “You are surprisingly taking everything good…” he murmured.

“Oh well, I am actually freaked out but I believe there are more than this so let me be positive now,” Nino said while eyeing him a little. “Now I guess you can explain me about tonight?”

And Jun told Nino about everything. First about The Witch and how she created the monster. How powerful she actually was, and how she was hated. About her anger, her hatred towards the humanity and so much more. Nino listened carefully, trying to understand and accept everything that Jun was telling him.

“People who are using magic is not equal to the God, I mean we can't just make everything happen. Fixing a glass or making a flower grow is something we can do without a problem however no wizard or witch can create a monster which is immortal,” Jun said trying his best to make Nino understand how powerful The Witch actually was. “There's no denying on it. She was the most powerful among everyone who used magic after her. Some theories say that she is the reason why there are wizards and witches now exist. Some say that we were actually her gift to the humanity to help everyone out before she corrupted and started to hate every single human being and some say that she created us to feel her suffer, and for me, I actually believed the last one,” Jun said averting his gaze from Nino. “Because we have to keep ourselves as a secret in order to stay safe. Those who learn that we are using magic runs away in the best scenario. The worst, of course, is a witch hunt, which everyone wants to avoid.”

“I won't run away,” Nino blurted out suddenly making Jun look at his eyes. “I haven't run away until now and I won't run away from you from now on too,” Nino said truthfully. “The thing that you can charge my phone without needing a cable or electricity just makes me love you more,” he winked mischievously and Jun had to laugh at that.

“Are you perhaps planning to use me as a portable charger?” he asked trying to seem serious about it however he actually didn't really care about it. If Nino would accept him despite being a wizard, he was alright with being his portable charger or anything. Jun listened to Nino's laugh for a while and continued to his story. “These were all theories until our camp, you remember right? The one we went together with Sho and Aiba. You have ditched me again, seriously you need some sunlight for your skin-”  
Nino cut him off while he rolled his eyes. “J, you are out of topic.”

Jun blinked with surprise. “Oh yeah, I mean yes! When we went there, we realized that we forgot beers in the car and sent Sho to get them. It seems like he lost his was and met someone in the woods.”

“You mean Satoshi, right? He told me about him but what about Satoshi?”

“He is the monster,” Jun said calmly. “The monster which is created by The Witch.”

“Oh, my God…” Nino uttered.

“And he is the one who saved Sho from the fire tonight…”

“Oh my God,” was the only thing that Nino could say.

“When The Witch was rejected from the world, she went back to her forest and created a garden which would be her heaven. However, humans were not allowed to go in there. It was only for The Witch and for her monster. The legend says that The Witch's garden is a cursed heaven, whoever cares to enter that garden shall face one’s death… Apparently, Sho had gone to find him in the woods when we were at camp and he went inside The Witch's garden. Satoshi only found out about it when he was already inside,” Jun said. “I was naive, I went to the garden, to confront the monster but he was… He was nothing like I had known or thought. You know? The monster was created to hate humanity. It didn't have a heart to love, it shouldn't… But do you know what he asked me?” Jun asked as he looked Nino's eyes woefully. Nino chose to stay silent and Jun continued. “He asked me to destroy the garden and kill him.” Nino's eyes widened.

“Why?” he asked not being able to stop himself from asking.

“The monster loves a human,” Jun explained sadly. “He lived thousands of years, he had thousands of years to hate humans like The Witch but he chose to defy his creator, he chose to save Sho even when he knew that his purpose of living was to hate everything.”  
Nino inhaled sharply. “Can't you do anything to help them?”

Jun shook his head negatively before taking it into his hands. “I don't know, honestly,” he started. “You saw the flames, you also know that the fire alarm never went off, you also saw the power of The Witch,” he said. _He is right,_ Nino thought. However, he wanted to believe that there was something they could do.

“You should go and find Satoshi,” Nino said after a few seconds of silence. Jun looked up and met his gaze with Nino's. “He may be immortal but he is injured, isn't he? You should go and find him, then bring him here.”

“Nino…”

“You said it yourself, he defied The Witch and if The Witch is our main enemy than that makes Satoshi or the monster or whatever; our ally,” he stopped to take a deep breath. “And honestly, he was the one who saved Sho. Not me, not you, not the firemen but Satoshi. So I think having him here would help,” _also it would stop Sho from going to search for Satoshi when he discharges from hospital,_ he thought not really bothering himself to voice it.

Jun looked at Nino for a while, like he was measuring the topic however he nodded after a few seconds. “Will you stay with Sho? I will be back soon.”

Nino smiled and nodded. “Go find him, Potter!” he mocked Jun before pushing him towards the door.

“You won't stop teasing, will you?” Jun groaned.

“No way,” Nino grinned. “Not everyone gets to have a real-life Harry Potter as their friend after all,” he laughed loudly.

Jun smiled. He was actually grateful to Nino for not reacting badly so he decided to let him tease as much as he wanted.

***

The monster felt his presence even before he can show himself. He turned around swiftly, trying to comply with the pain on his back and looked at his visitor.

“Why are you here?!” he asked desperately. “You should be with Sho! You should be protecting him,” he inquired.

Jun heaved a sigh. “He is safe,” he said. “You should also worry about yourself too, you know.” The monster chose to stay silent. Jun continued. “He is at the hospital and I left him with Nino and Aiba. Aiba is a doctor and they won’t leave him alone for now so I came to find you.”

“Why?” The monster asked.

“If you won’t get any treatment soon, it will be dangerous you know,” he said like it was obvious.

“I don’t need any treatment,” the monster insisted. “I will not die either way.”

“You need that treatment,” Jun said truthfully. “I know you won’t die but I also know that it hurts. More than a normal burnt would hurt, possibly.”

“How did you find me?” The monster lamely tried to change the subject.

“You are not that skilled when it comes to talking, are you?” Jun laughed a little. “Well, either way, if I let you suffer like this Sho will beat the shit out of me.”

“Did he wake up?” The monster asked. Jun could see the sparkling hope in his eyes.

“I don't know when I left he was sleeping like a log,” Jun laughed softly trying to soften the atmosphere. “And for your information, he is alright. You saved him.”

The monster seemed baffled, he couldn’t utter any words for a moment. Then he seemed relieved. Truly. More than anyone could feel, the monster felt relieved because Sho was safe and sound. “Why?” he asked after a few seconds, almost inaudible.

Jun shrugged. “Because you are the one who saved Sho; not me, not the firemen but you,” he said closing the distance between him and Satoshi. “So you have every right in the world to go and stay on Sho's side.”

“But…” He started to oppose but Jun shut him down.

“You opposed her will, didn’t you?” He said while looking at the monster’s eyes carefully. “I knew it,” he said with a soft smile and turned the monster around. “Oh god, this looks worse than I thought…” he whispered with shock.

“You can’t fix it,” the monster mumbled. “Those flames were magical.”

“I know but you don’t know who you are talking to. Creating a disaster may not be my forte; furthermore, I only studied magic to protect those who are important to me so I am pretty good at healing magic,” he said proudly.

Satoshi chose to stay silent. He didn't know why Jun was helping him, but somehow he was happy to see that Jun didn't hate him for bringing Sho into danger. Satoshi’s eyes widened as he felt a warmness spreading through his back from where Jun's hands were placed. 

“You… Your magic… Feels different…”

“What do you mean?” Jun asked confused.

“The Witch… Her magic felt cold…” Satoshi mumbled, closing his eyes to feel Jun's magic more. It was so gentle, strong and steady yet very passionate. It fit well with Jun, his magic was well controlled yet at the same time it felt free from everything. The monster remembered how The Witch’s magic felt. Cold, frightening and forceful… It was nothing like Jun's. After a long time, the monster felt almost accepted by someone.

“You were right,” Jun narrowed his eyes. “The Witch was angrier than I thought…”  
Satoshi shook his head. “You are good.”

“It will probably take some time to heal properly but at least this should have stopped the pain.”

“Thank you,” Satoshi mumbled.

“Let's go,” Jun said, turning Satoshi around he made him look at him.

“To where?” Satoshi asked hesitantly.

“To Sho, of course,” Jun smiled brightly before tugging Satoshi’s arm to drag him. “I bet Sho is waiting for you.”

Satoshi tried to comply with Jun, however, he only let the other drag him. His mind was on Sho. Nothing more or nothing less… All he could think was Sho and that he could see him again. Finally and once again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I am so so so sorry about this late update… I am just making excuses but my mid-terms kicked in T_T I hope everyone can forgive me m(_ _)m hope everyone enjoys this one too!


	8. Regret

_The monster was once again alone. This time, feeling more lonely than before. The boy must be a magician just like The Witch, he thought, and maybe stronger than her. He didn’t know what he did to the monster but for some reason, the monster craved for his presence as soon as he left the forest. So the monster waited for the boy. He did the only thing he could do because he was a coward who couldn’t go after him. He wanted the boy back. He wanted to see him again. Yet he was also scared that he would run away if he ever found out that he wasn’t a human like him. The monster felt scared but still wanted to see him. He felt like a powerless butterfly, which flew to the fire even when it knew that the fire would be its end._

_He knew every risk, but he still wanted to be with him. Yet he let him go. That was the first time the monster felt **regret** in his heart._

***

The next time he woke up, everywhere was white. For a moment Sho thought something had happened but no, it was only a hospital room with white walls as he scanned around with his newly opened eyes. He was feeling very rested like he had done nothing for at least two weeks. He stretched a little and soon a very familiar voice interrupted him. 

“Finally awake,” Sho smiled softly as he recognized Nino's voice. “You slept like a log.”

“It seems like I was tired,” Sho said, trying to soften the situation. He was well aware why he was there and what happened a night before. 

Nino narrowed his eyes, snorted and kicked Sho's bed once. “Haven't I told you that I don't want to pay a hospital visit?” he kicked the bed once more. “Which point of that you don't understand?!” 

“But it wasn't my fault!” Sho tried to defend himself.

“Shut up! Why are you always so late AND alone?!” Nino continued petulantly. “You were just lucky now! But what if something went wrong?!” But then, he took a deep breath to calm himself down. “Firemen saved you just before an explosion,” he noted. 

“Explosion?!” Sho exclaimed. 

“Yes,” Nino nodded. “The building is completely unusable.” 

“Oh my god…” Sho could only mutter that. 

“Totally, it’s oh my god. You should have seen the building,” Nino plopped down to the guest chair. “You really wouldn’t want to know about it.” 

An uncomfortable silence fell between them as Sho tried to take everything in. He really was lucky. He remembered how strong were the flames. He could still feel their frightening hotness on his face. He gulped. _How did I manage to get out of that fire?_ He wanted to ask. Because he was certain that he was going to die… 

“Why did you come back to the company?” Sho asked after a few seconds, giving up from asking the other question. 

“Jun was looking for you, I just tag along with him when he came to my house. Good thing that we did look for you,” he said trying to stay neutral. 

“Oh…” Sho murmured. Before he could ask for more, they heard a knock on his door. 

“Come in,” Nino called out. Soon his door opened, revealing an exhausted Jun. However, as soon as he saw Sho, his eyes sparkled. 

“Sho!” he exclaimed as he hurried his steps towards Sho’s bed. “I am so glad that you are awake!” 

Sho chuckled. “Yeah, it seems like somehow I made it,” he said nonchalantly. 

Jun smiled. A very relieved and happy one. “I got a present for you,” he said excitedly. 

Sho blinked with confuse. “What?” But Jun already turned around and hurried to outside. Sho could hear him saying “Come on, don’t worry,” as if trying to convince someone. Sho frowned. Did someone come to visit him? But before he could say anything, Jun dragged this certain someone inside. Sho’s jaw dropped as he saw Satoshi. He rubbed his eyes with his free hand, trying to convince himself that he was _indeed_ Satoshi. A weird silence fell into the room as he couldn’t say anything, well, Satoshi staying silent also didn’t help the situation. Suddenly, Jun nudged Satoshi’s side with his elbow, gaining a pained sound from Satoshi. He threw a hurt look towards Jun and Jun moved his head towards Sho. For a moment, Jun looked like he was scolding Satoshi, and Sho was sure that Satoshi was older than Jun. Well, considering that he is also older than Sho, it was only natural. Sho wanted to laugh at that scene, already having a hard time to hold his laughter. 

“Yo!” Satoshi said finally with his very melodic and soft voice. He sounded nonchalant as if they weren’t in a hospital. Before Sho could answer, Jun and Nino groaned synchronically. Sho giggled as Jun facepalmed. 

“Yo!” Sho returned, and Satoshi beamed a timid smile. “How did you find me?” 

“I saw him in the city yesterday,” Jun said, instead of Satoshi. “Apparently he returned to the city and now working in a flower shop. You remember my friend, Toma? I ran into him in Toma’s shop,” he explained professionally, gaining a confused look from Satoshi.

Sho immediately realized that, but choose to not to say anything. “Is that so? You said you were looking after someone’s garden?” Sho questioned. 

“I am fired,” Satoshi said calmly. Well, he had pissed The Witch off, so even if he returned to her garden, nothing good was waiting for him. If he was going to be destroyed by The Witch, either way, he decided to protect Sho with everything he could do. 

“Is that so?” Sho seemed purely surprised. “Where are you staying now?” 

“Nowhere,” Satoshi answered calmly. 

“Which means..?” 

“I only came here yesterday.” 

“So you don’t have a place to stay?” 

“I guess so,” Satoshi nodded slightly. 

“You guess?” Sho groaned. “What kind of person would come to the city with absolutely no-plan?!” 

“Apparently the kind of person that you fell for, Sho-chan,” Nino whispered with a sheepish grin on his face, just loud enough Sho to hear him. Sho was sure that he was turning red. 

“Well, either way, we need to find a place for you,” he said hurriedly. Satoshi titled his head as if trying to understand what was going on. 

“You can come to my house for now,” suddenly Nino offered. 

“What?!” Sho exclaimed, shocked by Nino’s sudden generosity. “Who are you and what have you done to Nino?” 

“Ouch,” Nino faked a hurt expression and turned his head to Satoshi. “Here I am offering my kindness to you and he is accusing me of not being cooperative!” 

“Not so good,” Satoshi nodded approvingly. 

Sho’s jaw dropped once again. “When did you two even became friends?!” 

Jun shook his head. “Don’t ask me, I have no idea.” 

“And you don’t have to stay with Nino,” Sho pouted. “I was about to offer you my house.” 

“I see someone is jealous,” Nino said cheekily. 

Sho felt the hotness on his face grew stronger. “Not at all! I am only being rational. Since he knows me more than he knows you,” he reasoned. 

“Touché,” Nino said. “Well, but we still don’t know when you will be discharged.”

“Actually, he is good to go!” Aiba cooed suddenly coming inside. “Hi, guys! Oh!! Satoshi-san!!” He said cheerfully when he recognized Satoshi and went to shook his hand. “It’s good to see you here!!” 

“Hey, hey! Leave the reunion aside for a moment,” Jun interrupted. “Is he allowed to go?” 

“Yup!” Aiba said, popping the ‘p’. “Well, there’s no major burns and no poisoning due to smoke, and his tests are clear! So he is good to go!” he smiled showing a thumbs up. “I still have some time before I finish my shift but I will join you if you have a party tonight!” Aiba said before anyone could say anything. 

“We didn’t say a word about throwing a party,” Nino grumbled. 

“Great!” Aiba continued. “Then tonight in Nino’s house, I will bring some beer with me!” he said, literally forcing his way. “See you tonight then!” he said finally and left the room, leaving four guys behind. Jun and Ohno had equally confused expression while Sho couldn’t hold his laughter anymore and Nino groaned. “Why is it even my house!?!” 

“You asked for it,” Jun shot back. 

Soon they were all laughing. Including Satoshi too. 

***

At the end of the day, they all barged into Nino's house with lots of beer and snacks. Nino was sure accommodating and generous as he let them use his kitchen. Jun offered to cook for them and Nino ended up with helping him in the kitchen. 

Sho and Satoshi were in the living room, sitting comfortably on Nino's sofa. Surely his living room was one of the most comfortable places in Nino's house since he spent a lot of his time in that living room, playing games. There was a fluffy grey carpet on the floor and lots of fluffy pillows for sitting on the floor. He had a big TV and well… lots of game consoles. Sho was sure that Nino could open a game center with those games that he possessed. He knew Nino for a while already and as far as he knew him, the petite guy never had any passion for clothes or such while he didn't doubt spending a little fortune on games. Speaking of which… Sho turned his head to Satoshi who seemed to dozing off. He chuckled inwardly at the sight of Satoshi’s already half-closed eyelids. 

He seemed different. He wasn't wearing the same clothes when he saw him in the forest. His old, weird clothes seemed to change in a very fashionable way, he couldn't help but realize. He was wearing a pair of very good jeans which seemed a bit big for him. He had a sky blue t-shirt and he was wearing an unbuttoned checkered shirt over it. He had already rolled his sleeves over his elbows, revealing his delicate arms. Sho couldn't help but admire his long fingers. His hair was the only messy part. His bangs were falling over his eyes, giving him a very adorable sight. He was sunburnt, very. Sho wanted to laugh. It was like as if Satoshi had no idea about sun cream. He should remind him to do it properly next time, Sho noted at the back of his mind. 

“You are staring,” Suddenly Satoshi said not even turning his head to look at him, making him blush. 

“Sorry…” Sho mumbled and turned his head to hide his blush. 

This time, Satoshi turned his face to him, offering him a soft, reassuring smile. “I am glad you are alright,” he said with his melodic voice, moving his hand to pat Sho’s head. 

Sho blinked with surprise. “I am not a kid, you know,” he mumbled averting his gaze. 

Satoshi didn't take his hand away. “I know,” he said simply. 

Sho would be angry if someone else were doing it but somehow, he didn't have any strength to get angry at Satoshi. His calming aura made Sho's anger and impatience melt in instant. He realized that from their first encounter. Satoshi was like a calming rain, which cleaned everything and left before anyone can notice, only leaving a fresh scent of rain behind. 

When Nino and Jun came inside the room, holding full plates of pasta, Satoshi’s hand left his head, Sho thought he would actually really like to hold that hands in his own. 

Just when they were served to eat pasta, the doorbell announced Aiba's arrive. As soon as he came inside, he threw himself over Sho, hugging him as if trying to kill him while crying and continuously telling him how happy he was that Sho is alright. Jun scolded him for choking Sho, telling him that he is going to kill him and soon Jun and Nino took over the calming job of Aiba. 

The night went quite well for every one of them. Although Satoshi was dozing off from time to time, he seemed like he is keeping the track of talk. With the amount of alcohol, Aiba started to cry while saying that how glad that he met them and that was the signal for the end of the night. Somehow Nino was too drunk to make a good decision so Jun took over the looking after job and decided he and Aiba stay for the night while he kicked Satoshi and Sho out since his house was next door. Sho was a bit soberer than Satoshi, dragged him into his house. 

He didn't have time to clean his house so eventually, he had to welcome him into his mess. Satoshi didn't mind though. He simply followed Sho into the house and sit down to the sofa which Sho showed him. Being a very responsible host, soon Sho take out fresh covers to make a bed for Satoshi while apologizing for the mess. 

Satoshi watched him shuffle around and talk non-stop for a while before he decided to hold out his hand and catch for Sho's wrist. “Stop,” he said calmly. 

Sho blinked with surprise but complied with his request. “Satoshi?” 

Satoshi closed his eyes as his lips curled into a smile. “Hm?” 

“Something happened?” Sho couldn't help but ask. Satoshi shook his head negatively. After a minute of silence, Sho decided to talk. “We should go to sleep.”

“You are right…” Satoshi sat down on the sofa, pulling Sho with him. Soon he laid down and somehow Sho couldn't refuse and circled his arms around Satoshi almost instinctively. Satoshi crawled into his hug, seeking for Sho's warmth. 

“It will be very uncomfortable if we sleep here like this,” Sho said after a few minutes. 

Satoshi only nodded, tightening his hug around Sho’s waist. It was only a minute later when Sho felt him falling asleep. He chuckled while he moved his body closer in order to find himself a bit more comfortable position. He was sure that he would be regretting this tomorrow morning when his consciousness drifted into a dreamless but very pleasant sleep.


	9. Hate

_The monster waited for Sho. He continued to visit the place where he met the little boy, who light up his whole being, who gave a name to him, who gave a purpose of living to him. He looked behind the little boy who already left with his friends a long time ago. He was **yearning** behind the little boy. His tears left his eyes silently, with desperation countless times. _

_If he were to be a human, would he be able to go after him? Would he be allowed to stop Sho and hold him in his arms like he desired? Would he be able to stay as Satoshi, not just a monster? Two weeks had changed the monster so much. However, he became aware of that just when he lost Sho. For the first time in his life, the monster felt **hatred** towards his existence. For the first time in his whole life, he cursed The Witch for creating him. And that time, the monster wanted to become human more than any other times._

 

***

 

A month has passed and Satoshi was still living in Sho’s apartment. Strangely, it didn’t feel weird or unpleasant to him at all. He was a good companion who eased Sho whenever he felt stressed. After the fire, their company got a deceitful amount of money from the insurance which helped him to recover his business a bit. His clients who mostly reacted kindly, kept their contracts with his company while Sho tried his best to start business again as soon as possible. 

The cause of the fire was still pretty much unknown but Sho had a feeling that somehow Jun and Nino knew about it. 

The thing is… Sho wasn’t an idiot. He was perfectly aware that something was definitely wrong and somehow Nino and Jun were in it, together with Satoshi. 

The questions in Sho’s mind kept their places but he continued to procrastinate on them. For example; why did Satoshi appeared out of nowhere? How did Satoshi manage to appear everytime he was in a serious pinch? How did he manage to stop that big dead tree with only one hand back then? Why did he never aged from that time? Why did Satoshi look that distant whenever he thought that Sho was not looking? A lot of whys and hows were filling his mind like there’s no escape from them. Something was off. Something big… But he didn’t have the courage to ask that to anyone. Especially when he couldn’t shake that feeling that kept his mouth shut: the fear of losing Satoshi when he learned all of those answers. 

But for now, they were together. They were fine. 

***

Sho woke up on his bed, not even remembering when he went to bed… Or more likely, did he ever made it to bed? He rubbed his eyes. He was tucked safely in the blanket, feeling warm and comfortable. Honestly, he didn’t want to leave his bed if it wasn’t for his stomach which was grumbling wildly at that moment. 

Sho groaned, torn between the relaxing feeling that his bed provided him and irritating urge of his stomach. It loudly growled again, when Sho smelled something delicious. Food! Sho thought happily. That was probably the only thing that could give him the strength to leave his bed. He dragged his tired body to the kitchen and smiled when he saw Satoshi shuffling around the kitchen with a serious expression on his face. 

“Good morning,” Sho said as he sat behind the corner. 

Satoshi looked at him, smiling peacefully. “Good morning.” 

“Did I fell asleep on the desk again?” Sho asked, even though he knew the answer perfectly. 

Satoshi nodded. “I guess you like sleeping on your desk more than your bed…” 

Sho laughed. “Not at all.” 

Satoshi chuckled. “It’s okay. I will be here to take you to bed whenever you fell asleep on the desk.” Sho felt the burning sensation creeping up to his face while he averted his gaze as he tried to find something to say. Just at that moment, Satoshi placed a bowl of rice and miso soup in front of him. “And I bet you are hungry,” he said while sitting in front of him. 

Sho blinked. “You know me so well,” he chuckled before starting to eat the soup and rice. 

Satoshi laughed and Sho couldn’t help but look at him. His laugh had a strange effect on him which wasn’t unpleasant at all. “It’s not that hard to figure you out, Sho-kun,” Satoshi said. “Your eyes reflect what you think, almost always.” 

“Really?” Sho asked while he continued to munch over the rice. Satoshi nodded. His eyes continued to look at Sho fondly as he continued to eat. “This is delicious,” Sho mumbled. “Is there anything you can’t do?” he asked jokingly. 

“A lot,” Satoshi answered. “I am just good at imitating humans.” 

Sho gulped. It was that kind of answers that made him feel uneasy about something. He didn’t know what was it but that something was very disturbing Sho. “But you are also human, right?” Sho asked cautiously. 

Satoshi chuckled. “Right,” he answered. 

Sho frowned. He hated that lonesome look in Satoshi’s eyes. “Satoshi, I wanted to ask you some-” he started but Satoshi cut him off.

“Don’t you have a meeting at ten? You won’t make it if you don’t start moving now,” Satoshi said calmly. 

“Damn! I totally forgot!” Sho said before stuffing the remaining rice to his mouth. He got up quickly, rushed towards his bedroom, changing quickly and leaving the house with a lot of questions in his mind. But this time, he was determined to ask those to Satoshi when he gets back home. 

***

The door of his house was open when Sho came back in evening. _Thief?!_ He thought with a frown. His breath accelerated as he held out his briefcase in front of him as a weapon and he walked inside as silent as possible, trying to catch a thief on the job. However, he felt relieved when he heard Jun and Nino’s voice coming from his living room. He exhaled deeply. It would be too ridiculous. A burglary after a fire? Seriously, what kind of luck would that be?! 

However, his hands stopped when he heard a certain sentence from Jun. “It doesn’t matter if you are immortal or not, Satoshi,” he was whispering. “The Witch can erase you in a minute!” 

“J is right,” Sho heard Nino approving Jun. “I mean okay, you are an immortal monster but those injuries still haven’t healed.” 

_Injuries? A month? The Witch? Monster? An immortal… monster?_

“It won’t heal,” Sho stirred in his place when he heard Satoshi’s soft voice. “I am grateful to you for trying to heal me but… Those flames were meant for destruction. They won’t heal completely.” 

“Are you serious?!” Sho could hear Jun’s anger from his voice. “Isn’t there anything we can do at all?”

“Wait, wait, wait!” Nino interrupted them. “My magical knowledge doesn’t go beyond Harry Potter guys, but those flames were The Witch’s magic, right? Then she should be able to heal Satoshi.”

“Although it is possible in theory, do you really think The Witch would heal Satoshi?” Jun asked seriously. 

“But she is the one who created him!” Nino protested. “Would she really abandon him like this?!” 

“She already abandoned me,” Satoshi whispered. 

“I will find a way to save you, Satoshi,” Jun promised. “Just wait a bit longer!” 

Satoshi chuckled. “You won’t be able to, Jun-kun,” he started. “And it doesn’t matter anymore, right, Sho?” 

Sho stirred on his place when the door opened revealing Satoshi who was wearing a blue unbuttoned shirt. Jun and Nino were looking shocked when they saw him. 

“What does this mean?!” Sho asked, taking a step inside the room. “The Witch?! Flames?! A monster!?” Sho looked at Satoshi terrified by the sudden information revealed to him. 

Suddenly, everything made sense in a weird way for Sho. The reason why Satoshi never aged, why he was that strong, why he sounded as if he is not a human… Because he wasn’t one in the first place. “Explain!” Sho demanded as he continued to look at Satoshi’s eyes. 

“It’s just as you heard,” Satoshi said. “I am not a human.”

“Satoshi! Sho-san, that’s not-” Jun tried to cut in but Satoshi stopped him. 

“Trying to lighten it won’t help,” Satoshi said calmly. Then he turned to look at Sho again. “Sho-kun, I am not a human. I am a monster, created by The Witch, who hate humans,” he continued calmly. “I am a monster,” he repeated.

Sho took a step back, placing a small distance between him and Satoshi. _He is not a human…. A monster?_ His ears started to buzz. This didn’t make any sense while it did make sense perfectly. He was the one who gave the name to Satoshi… But it wasn’t Satoshi… 

“Jun-kun, Nino, can you leave us alone for a moment?” Satoshi asked to them. Sho tensed up. What was he planning to do? 

Jun and Nino wanted to protest but the look on Satoshi’s face didn’t leave any place for argument. “We are waiting outside,” Jun said reassuringly. He was worried about Satoshi more than Sho because he was sure that once Sho recovered from the initial shock, he would be accepted Satoshi. It was so obvious that Sho loved Satoshi and Jun wanted to believe that love was the key to everything. 

When the door closed behind Jun, Satoshi looked at Sho with mixed emotions. Sho was a few meters away from him, tense and scared and mostly shocked. He couldn’t blame Sho. Satoshi knew that Sho was slightly aware that something was off about Satoshi. He was smart, after all. But that didn’t mean that he could accept Satoshi, a monster which is created to hate humanity and cause disasters. Satoshi knew that, hoping that Sho would accept a monster like him would be too optimistic. But if this was their last encounter; if this would be the last time he sees Sho, he wanted to tell him everything. 

Satoshi took a deep breath, before starting to tell Sho everything. “Would you allow me to tell you a story?” 

Sho flinched when he heard Satoshi’s voice softer than any other times… almost broken… Sho nodded reluctantly. Satoshi smiled. “This story belongs to ancient times,” he started. “I don’t know how many centuries have passed but this story belongs to a time where there weren’t a lot of people in this world. The Witch was the very first person who possessed magic in her blood,” Satoshi chuckled and nodded. “Yes, she was also a human. But she was a human who was refused by her own kind. Can you imagine how lonely she felt? How helpless despite all the power she had possessed? I can,” Satoshi continued. “And then, she decided to end her lonely days by creating a monster,” Satoshi smiled a little while looking at Sho. “Yes, that monster is me,” he said and he let a few seconds of silence fell so that everything would sink in. “I don’t know why she created me anymore. Once I had a purpose of living, it was only for her. I was created by her and for her. But now, I don’t know if I have a purpose of living at all. All I know that I was the only one who accepted her and she was the first one who had refused me. She hated humans. She hated those who had refused her with all her might. That’s why I don’t have a name, that’s why I shouldn’t be feeling anything,” Satoshi’s lips trembled. “But I keep failing.”

Sho gasped. Satoshi took another deep breath before continuing. “I keep failing whenever I see you,” he whispered. He took a hesitant step to close the distance between him and Sho. He took another step when he saw that Sho wasn’t running away. Then another, following another one until he stood in front of Sho. He held out his hand to touch Sho’s cheeks. Sho trembled under his touch but didn’t back away or shook Satoshi’s hand. 

“You remind me of my creator,” the monster whispered while tracing a line from Sho’s lips to his neck. His touch was steady yet Sho could feel his hesitation through his skin. “You are like her, the more I go further the more I feel lost in you. But you are also different from my creator,” the monster stopped his hand above Sho’s heart. “You have something here, that draws me to you… Something that makes me feel like a human…” Then all of a sudden, the monster drew his hand away from Sho. His face contorted with pain. Sho felt his heart ache for the monster. “You remind me of her, yet you feel different… But in the end, I am just a monster, and you are a human,” the small broken smile on the monster’s face was too much for Sho bear. He wanted to reach out his hand and touch Satoshi, call his name, tell him that he is more than a human but he was out of his reach. 

The monster took a step towards Sho and let him touch himself as if he could understand Sho’s complicated feelings. As if, he was ready to abandon himself if that was what Sho wanted. The monster also reached out his hand, touching Sho’s wet cheeks, feeling those hot tears with his slender finger. “Don't cry,” the monster whispered again. His voice also trembled. “We can't be together, but for the first time, you made me feel like I was a human, deeply in love with you… I will never forget the shape of your lips when they called my name, I will cherish every single touch that I have received from you, and I will continue to love you with my created mind and heart because I now know that I am only created for you, because of you, for the purpose of loving you,” were the last words of the monster. Sho threw his arms to trap him inside a hug, however, the only thing he could catch was the thin air before him. He hugged himself falling to his knees and crying his heart out. His name was the only thing Sho could utter between his sobs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It has been two months!?!?!? OMG, I didn't even notice that I haven't uploaded this THAT longer........ I deserve every punishment you got for me. I am sorry T-T But if I am lucky, I will finish it in a month (I know you have no faith in me but let's hope for the best haha) Yes, the story will end soon! Two chapters and one epilogue probably! Let's see what will happen!


	10. Bravery

_Sho gave a name to the monster which had none. The monster had a purpose of living but Sho gave a meaning to the monster’s life which never had from the start. He lit up the world around him, and the monster met the colors of this world which he had always thought that it was monochrome, for the first time. He became Satoshi because of him. His created heart beat for him. The monster wanted to be with him but he would only bring misfortune to Sho. At first, he decided to let him go. If it was for Sho, he could let him go, he thought. Because that was how much he was important to the monster. But in the end, the monster loved Sho more than that. For the first time, the monster knew that he loved Sho so much that he could actually fight with The Witch for him._

_That was the first time, the monster felt **brave** in the depths of his heart. _

***

The monster didn’t have anywhere to go. 

That awareness made everything harder than he had thought. Once he belonged to The Witch even if she didn’t care about him. Once he belonged to the forest, which he left without even thinking. Once he belonged to Sho, which he lost not long ago. 

It was strange. It was sad. It felt so lonely. 

What was the secret that made people human? Satoshi wondered more than anything. 

Was it a name? It must have been a name, he was sure of that when until he got a name. But neither a name nor pretending like Satoshi made him a human. He was still the same monster which lived centuries, only to serve The Witch’s wishes. He was still living if anyone could call that as living… He was still there, still wondering what made a person human because he wanted to be someone, not something. 

For all this time, the monster was there; an immortal marionette. 

He wondered why The Witch decided to make him immortal. Was it because The Witch wanted him to continue hating humans? It didn’t sound likely, because even from the beginning, the monster never hated anyone. Neither humans nor The Witch. 

He only hated himself. He only hated himself for feeling too much which only hurt more. He only hated himself for wanting to become a human. He wanted to hate himself for falling in love with Sho. He hated himself for hurting him, for bringing misfortune to him. He hated his own created heart which shouldn’t have been consisting of any kind of emotions. He hated his looks, which looked like a human. “If it was going to be like this… I wanted you to make me different… If from the start, you hadn’t made me look like a human... if you had made me look totally different…” He mumbled while looking at the dark night sky. 

He wanted to ask her to destroy him. She was still strong. She could still manage to end his life. But… the monster knew that she would never do that. 

Did she hate him that much? Did she want to punish him by imprisoning him into an eternal life where he had no meaning to live? Did she want to see him fall in love with someone who will never accept him? 

Satoshi felt sad, tired, hopeless and unimaginably lonely. 

“I want to see you, Sho,” he murmured, knowing that it would be impossible for him to see him again. An imitation won’t be more than an imitation, the monster was very well aware of that. 

The monster closed his eyes. Maybe, just maybe, The Witch would pity him and he won’t wake up again. Oh, how good it would be, the monster thought. His long mission would come to an end… 

Satoshi opened his eyes again. He couldn’t let that happen… He couldn’t let it go. He didn’t want to lose Sho. 

The monster, wanted to live, for the first time in his long life; for the little boy who saved him. For Sho, who gave him a name, who made his heart beat with different kinds of emotions, whose touch was something irreplaceable, who lighted his days, who gave him a purpose of living. 

Satoshi wanted to live for him, even if Sho decides to run away from him. 

***

“... So far, this is everything,” Jun said as he finished explaining to Sho. A heavy silence fell into the room. Jun watched Sho close as his friend tried to digest all the information. 

“So… You are a… um, wizard?” Sho tried to put his thoughts in order. “And Nino also knows about it?” 

“More or less,” Nino answered. “Don’t freak out, Sho-chan, really! Having a wizard friend is awesome,” he grinned slyly. “He is charging my DS and phone in a blink of an eye!” 

Sho blinked. “You are charging Nino’s phone?”

“And his DS,” Jun answered with a heavy sigh. “He is literally using me as a portable charger.” 

“This is too much…” Sho mumbled. “But it’s so Nino like.” 

“Hey! I am still here, mind you!” Nino retorted. “Anyway, Jun is awesome you know.” 

“Since when did you started to fancy Jun that much?” Sho asked while batting an eyelash up. 

“Since he became my own portable charger,” Nino answered while he tried to keep his voice neutral. But Sho could see his eyes turning pink. 

“And Satoshi?” Sho bit his lips. 

“It’s a bit complicated,” Jun started to explain. “Like I said, The Witch has created him for whatever reasons but we have no idea why he is still alive. In magic society-” 

“Magic society?” Sho cut him, curiously.

“What? You thought I am the only wizard in the world?” Jun said obviously. “Well, in magical society, the story of The Witch and her monster was just an urban legend, until I end up meeting him. But well, everyone including me thought that the monster was dangerous. In the end, he is probably dangerous since we have no idea what he is capable of, but he doesn’t have any desire to harm-” 

“Of course!” Sho cut him fiercely. “Satoshi is a kind man.” 

“I know that,” Jun rolled his eyes. “But many in the magical society doesn’t. Either way, they think he is dangerous but none of us are strong enough to destroy him-” 

Sho slammed his hands to the table, he stood up cutting Jun once again. “What do you mean by destroying him?! Do you hear what you are saying?! There’s no way I will let you destroy Satoshi!” 

Another silence fell into the room. Jun looked at Sho’s eyes and he sighed. “You may not let me, but that’s what Satoshi wants,” he answered truthfully. 

Sho blinked. _Was that what he wanted?_

“He said the same thing to me too,” Nino said sadly. “He… it must be hard. He is well aware that neither this world nor people would accept a monster like him…” 

“But he is not a monster,” Sho whispered, he eyed the small flowerpot which contained very young red camellias. Satoshi had brought them with him about two weeks ago and continued to care for them every day. He was kind, silent but caring. Sho was the biggest witness of it. There was no way Satoshi could be a monster. He was the farthest existence of being a monster. Yet, he wasn’t a human. It was funny how twisted that fact is. There were a lot of people out there, who does a lot of monstrous things yet Satoshi was the one who is a monster. “He is not a monster,” Sho said once again determinedly. 

“I know what you are trying to say,” Jun said calmly. “But still, this doesn’t change the fact that he is not a human.”

“Jun-!” 

“But then again, Satoshi is harmless,” Jun continued. “I believe that, no, I am sure of it.”

“Will you be able to help him somehow?” Sho asked, his eyes sparkling with hope. 

Jun shook his head negatively. “All I managed to find is that he needs The Witch to turn him into a human.” 

“But…” 

“The Witch probably won’t do it,” Jun answered darkly. “I can try to force her, or rather, I can try to communicate with her but we need Satoshi for that too.” Sho pressed his lips together. He felt powerless, he felt anger towards himself and towards The Witch. “Anyway,” Jun continued. “Let’s get some rest, we have to find Satoshi tomorrow.” 

Sho chose to stay silent as Nino and Jun left his house. When it was silent again, he ruffled his hair frustratedly. He looked around him, feeling very lonely. Satoshi’s existence was something precious, something so dear to him. His house without Satoshi was so empty. 

Sho stood up from his place and walked towards the red camellias. He gently stroked the fragile layers of leaves. How could someone like Satoshi can me a monster? Sho didn’t believe that Satoshi was a monster. 

Did it really matter that he wasn’t a human, like Sho himself? He still had a heart. The way Satoshi smiled, the way he fitted into Sho’s arms, the admiration Satoshi showed Sho when he talked about his job, the way he silently took care of Sho, the way he touched Sho, the way how his lips ghosted over Sho’s skin whenever he thought Sho was asleep and so much more. Sho couldn’t bring himself to think Satoshi as a monster. It was impossible.

Sho took a deep breath. “I won’t let you give up on your life,” Sho said to himself, determinedly. 

It was time to find Satoshi. 

***

Satoshi thought he was dreaming when he first heard Sho’s voice, from very far away. When it came a little closer, he thought his ears were playing tricks on him. When it came a little more closely, Satoshi started to thought he was finally going crazy. 

However when that voice continued to echo through the empty camping site, slowly he started to believe that neither he was going crazy nor he was dreaming. He slowly stood up, looking around gingerly, not wanting to be deceived by a mere illusion, he listened closely. 

“Satoshi!” he heard his name ring closer and closer, he blinked with surprise. “Sho,” he murmured, barely audible. 

“Satoshi!!” Sho continued to shout for him while trying his best to avoid weird bushes which wasn’t there when he last visited. The camping is felt somehow creepy and deserted but he continued to move forward. “Shit, why the hell is there this much of weed!?” He grumbled, shoving some tree branches. “Satoshi!!!” 

Satoshi could clearly hear him now, too stunned to move from his place, he continued to listen. Now he could also hear the rustling sound which was coming from the south corner of the camping site. Satoshi felt like the time stopped and couldn’t move when Sho suddenly came into his sight. 

Sho grumpily shook the dust and grass before looking around him. But when he did, his eyes sparkled with an obvious happiness and relief as he saw Satoshi standing in front of his eyes. He ran towards Satoshi, threw his arms around his neck and pressed him closer to his body. “Satoshi!” he exclaimed. 

“Why…” Satoshi murmured, his voice muffled on the crook of Sho’s neck. “Why are you here?” 

Sho tightened his grip on Satoshi, as if afraid that he will run again. He inhaled Satoshi’s scent, mixed with the forest’s characteristic smell. “I came to find you,” Sho answered truthfully. 

“You…” Satoshi started but Sho stopped him. 

“I am sorry that it took me so long to find you,” Sho said, trembling with the emotions. He buried his face in the crook of Satoshi’s neck, inhaling his scent, trying to make himself believe that he was together with Satoshi. 

Satoshi who still didn't let himself embrace Sho back blinked a few times, tears forming in his eyes. “But I am not a-” he started choking in his own sentence. He breathed shakily. “You know I am not a…” _human like you_ , he wanted to complete however unable to make it due to Sho's soft and well-shaped lips which sealed his own. Satoshi couldn't think, let alone moving. Sho was kissing him… He could feel the hesitation of Sho, mostly because he was afraid of getting rejected. He placed his hands on both sides of Satoshi’s face gently holding him in his place but still giving him a chance to reject. 

Satoshi didn't and most likely couldn't think much, as he let Sho kiss him like that. Too afraid to make a move, too afraid that he was dreaming everything, he just let Sho's soft lips move on his own like he wanted. 

It was short, and very gentle, filled with hesitation and wishes of both. And when Sho separated his lips from Satoshi’s, he saw silent tears running down from Satoshi’s cheeks. “You don't have to be a human or anything for me to love you,” Sho whispered. “You're Satoshi. My Satoshi, and that's all I need.”

Satoshi couldn't say anything while Sho caressed his cheek with his thumb. “But…” Suddenly continued Sho. “If you don't want me…” he started hesitantly but he was unable to complete his sentence because this time Satoshi was the one who started kissing him, filled with the feelings of worth for decades, mixed with salty tears and mutual love of each other. 

This time the kiss was a bit more active, with a little more movement of their tongue included in it. They kissed each other a bit embarrassed, craving for more but still gently. Satoshi placed his hands on the sides of Sho, holding him in his place, grounded by him. They were kissing openly, under the starry night, holding each other strongly, without slightest desire to let each other go. 

When they parted, both of them were inhaling deep breaths, still looking into each other's eyes. 

“I don't know if you'll hate me for this but,” Sho started suddenly. “I am glad you had lived this long. Otherwise, there wouldn't be a chance for me to meet you, and fall in love with you…”

Hearing those words, Satoshi threw his arms around him Sho, holding him strongly and firmly. He buried his face to the crook of Sho's neck. “It's better if you leave me,” Satoshi said, causing Sho froze in his arms. “I only bring misfortune to you,” he continued not giving the slightest chance to Sho to stop him. “But I can't… not anymore. I thought I loved you enough to let you go, but it's wrong. I love you more than that,” he said softly. “I love you so much for letting you go… call me selfish, curse me if you want but I love you Sho, so much that I would fight with the world for you,” Satoshi confessed. Sho could hear the vulnerability on his voice and could feel him trembling in his hug. 

“Satoshi-kun,” Sho murmured, moving his hand up and down soothingly. “Then don't let me go. I don't want you to let me go. I don't want to let _you_ go.”

“Sho-kun…” Satoshi murmured, tightening his arms around Sho, he breathed his scent. “Is it okay if I fight for you?” 

Sho blinked with surprise. “What do you mean?” 

“I want to fight for you, for myself,” Satoshi said, locking his eyes with Sho’s. “I don’t want to be a monster anymore,” he continued, almost pleadingly. “I want to fight for my mortality, I want to fight for a life with you.” 

Sho took a deep breath, trying not to panic. “But… but…” he said shakily, as he remembered everything about The Witch that Jun had told him. “Satoshi-kun… I don’t mind you being immortal at all,” he said. He didn’t know what will happen to Satoshi if he tried to fight with The Witch and he honestly didn’t want to think the worst. 

Satoshi caressed Sho’s cheeks lovingly. “Sho-kun,” he started. “You will grow old, while I watch you. You will…” _die one day_ , he didn’t say it but Sho understood it. “Please.” 

“But if something goes wrong…” _you will die, and I will lose you forever,_ Sho didn’t complete his sentence when Satoshi sealed his lips with his own. The kiss was gentle, and firm. It was full of with promises. Promises for future and promises for love. 

Satoshi pulled Sho until they were sitting on the ground, tangled with each other, still kissing. The night was somehow chilly, but they were keeping each other warm. The full moon was illuminating them, giving them enough light to see each other. 

“I will come back to you,” Satoshi said when they finally parted. “Just like you came to find me, Sho-kun.” Satoshi circled his arms around Sho once again, pulling him closer while he laid on his back. Sho placed his head on Satoshi’s chest. 

They stayed like that until the morning. They didn’t talk much, just feeling each other closer was enough. Sho listened to Satoshi’s heart beat for a long while, meanwhile watching the stars in his arms. If Satoshi was going to fight, then Sho was going to fight with him too, he decided. “I won’t lose you,” he whispered when the sun started to rise lazily. “Promise me you will come back,” Sho looked at Satoshi, wanting him to reassure him. Because he was scared, so scared that he was going to lose him. 

Satoshi smiled fondly, reached down to kiss Sho one more time. _I will come back to you, I promise,_ he didn’t have to voice those words, Sho knew very well. Sho chose to believe Satoshi, he chose to believe that sometimes, love could make miracles happen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Yes, I am so damn late again... I am sorry T-T  
> Red camellias means _you're a flame in my hear_ _t_  
>  It sounded so romantic, so why not I thought haha


	11. Love

_The Witch was all alone… She was alone for as long as she knew herself. She never knew a world where she wasn’t alone. It was painful. Everything had a companion, everything was somehow accepted by something. The honeybees that kiss the flowers had a place to return to, that one-legged baby bird also found a place in this world even though it was unable to move._

_She had a wooden hut, hidden deep inside the sacred forest. She would watch the night sky through the dusty glasses with a tear-stained face, wondering if one day she could have somewhere, someone that would accept her._

_At first, she tried to give presents to the mankind. She wanted to share some of her magical blood and make the world a better place. Magicians were born from her wish, like that. She could never imagine that her gifts would be considered as curses. Never once, she saw someone looking at her without fear in their eyes. Never once, she was considered as a lonely person who just wanted to be accepted. Never once, she felt like she actually belonged this world._

_She cried. She wanted to die. She tried to run. However, no matter how much she tried or she wanted, this magic running through her veins never disappeared. It only became stronger and stronger whenever she tried to get rid of it._

_In the end, she decided to hate humans. With that, she wouldn’t feel that hurt from being hated by them. Hating them was easier than hating herself. It was way easier to curse them than trying to help them. She decided that they weren’t worth her gifts and she created a garden for herself, away from humans because the forest was the only thing that never refused her. The forest was old, strong, forgiving and kind. It never hated The Witch like everyone in the world did. But she was still lonely. She still sought someone’s presence which was obviously impossible for her to have, making her decide to create a monster._

_A monster would be nice, she decided. A monster wasn’t a human and it wouldn’t refuse her. A monster was what she wanted, what she needed for this whole time._

_It was easy for her to create a monster, with a human appearance. A monster which looked exactly like what she was seeking but exactly the opposite of what she feared. A monster which was able to understand her, obey her, protect her, make her happy and a monster without any human feelings._

_It was cruel, she knew it. But the world was more cruel towards her than she was towards the nameless monster. She gave a life to it after all, what could it ask more? She made him exactly how she wanted. Strong, fast, immortal, merciless, hateful… But some of them didn’t work as she planned._

_The monster was strong, fast and immortal… But nothing like the merciless and hateful being that The Witch has desired. She started to hate the monster. Why was it not behaving like she always wanted? The monster started to develop feelings just like humans slowly but surely. It was lonely. It hoped for a name. However, it never hated anything. It never hated humans. It never hated The Witch. Not even when she ordered him to hate. The monster was kind, accepting, strong and somehow full of love._

_That was the first time The Witch realized what actually went wrong with her spell that created the monster. The monster was formed with everything that she actually yearned for. The monster, which was kind, accepting and lonely also hoped a name just like The Witch. Then The Witch realized how cruel she actually was. She was just as selfish and as hateful the other humans. She was just as cruel to create an immortal being, which would only suffer for an eternity even after she left. The Witch had a terminated life with a certain ending but she was so cruel that she also took that ending from the monster._

_She searched for a way to break her spell but nothing worked like she wanted. The only way she found was close to impossible, maybe more than impossible itself. The monster could only turn into a human when his created heart was filled with the feelings that were never meant to be inside him. And only when he loves someone, and loved back by that someone the curse she put on him would disappear._

_The Witch wanted to laugh. No one would love a monster created by her, just like no one loved The Witch. But this was the best thing she could find and she had to trust that the monster would find someone who would love him as well as his created heart._

_In the end, The Witch passed away. Without being loved by anyone, all alone, full of hate towards the mankind and herself. She died in silence, with only the monster by her side, unable to tell him about the solution she had found. The last thought she had was what a hideous but still beautiful that world was._

_She would never know that many centuries after her death, the monster would meet a young boy in the same forest that she lived and would fall in love with him. She would never be able to know that would be the first time that the monster would feel the love deep inside his fragile created heart. The love she wanted to experience but never managed in her whole life… The **love** which was actually the **key** to everything.  
_

***

Sho had no idea when he fell asleep, with a fear that Satoshi won’t be there when he woke up but apparently, he managed to fall asleep at some point inside Satoshi’s arms. When his senses slowly but surely came back to him, he snapped from his sleep and looked around only to see that Satoshi was still there, his arms still around him. 

Satoshi smiled to him, seemingly aware of Sho’s fears, he brushed Sho’s cheek with his one hand. The touch was feather-like and without thinking, Sho leaned into his touch. “Good morning,” Satoshi murmured. His voice felt like a silk on his skin. It was so tender, so full of love, almost making Sho tear up. The dawn was still ahead of them and everywhere was pitch-black but Sho was able to distinguish every part of his face. He looked deeply into his eyes before backing a little. 

Sho chuckled. “You have leaves in your hair,” he pointed out cheerfully. 

Satoshi blinked a few times, before reaching to his hair, trying to untangle the leaves but of course failing on the task. Sho stopped him, carefully taking the leaves away from his hair and smiling proudly when he finished. “Better,” he approved. 

“Thanks,” Satoshi said with a small smile. They stayed silent for a while, just looking at each other, somehow lost with the words. Sho wanted to ask a lot of questions and Satoshi wanted to tell a lot of things to him but both of them were afraid that it would be their last talk and none of them wanted to stain the moment with a farewell. Yet both of them were aware that they need to stand up and walk towards the future. A future that hopefully contained both of them, together. 

“So… now what?” Sho dared to ask after some minutes of silence. 

Satoshi averted his gaze from Sho. He didn’t know either. He only knew one thing that Nino’s words made sense to him. The Witch was who created him in the first place, so wouldn’t she be able to lift this curse? “I have lived enough,” Satoshi started. Sho wanted to protest but before he could say anything, Satoshi continued. “I have seen enough of the eternity and I only want to see a life with you.” 

Sho bit his lips. “But…”

“But,” Satoshi chuckled. “The Witch probably won’t let me.” 

“Satoshi…” 

“No!” Satoshi cut him fiercely. “I don’t want to continue living even after you die,” he stated firmly. “I can’t. I don’t want to see how this world would be without you… I don’t want to suffer from your loss… I’m not that strong,” his voice trembled and Sho felt the tears burning his eyes. He understood Satoshi’s feelings so well. So, so well that it made his heart beat in his chest painfully. He just couldn’t imagine a world without Satoshi in it, he didn’t want to imagine it. He just wanted to stay by his side. He just wanted to stay by Satoshi’s side, who looked rather sleepy all the time, who cared for flowers, who cuddled with him on the sofa not even caring the back pain, who simply made Sho happy from the bottom of his heart. 

“I can’t lose you,” Sho managed to say with a rather weak voice. 

“I can’t lose you either,” Satoshi said. Sho could feel his own fears mixed with Satoshi’s ones growing stronger. “But in any case,” Satoshi started, stabbing Sho’s heart with the possibility of losing him, “if I can’t come back,” Sho closed his eyes, not wanting to hear more, “always remember that I love you,” Sho took a painful deep breath. 

“I always loved you, Sho,” Satoshi smiled, caressing his cheeks, forcing him to look at his eyes. “I have always loved you, from the moment that I saw you. Maybe even before that. Just remember that. Don’t forget me,” he said before kissing Sho’s lips. 

“Forget-me-not,” Sho blurted out when they parted. “That was the name of the flower you left in front of my door,” he said. “Why?” 

Satoshi chuckled, slightly embarrassed by his actions. “I still haven’t told you that, right?” He said circling his arms around Sho and snuggling into his chest. “In a legend,” Satoshi started calmly, “when the Creator thought he had finished giving the flowers their colors, he heard one whisper "Forget me not!" There was nothing left but a very small amount of blue, but the forget-me-not was delighted to wear such a light blue shade.” Sho frowned and waited for Satoshi to continue. “Those flowers were forgotten. Just like me. My creator also forgot me, and left me behind just like that.” 

“I won’t forget you,” Sho said, tightening his arms around Satoshi’s body. “I will never forget you.” 

Satoshi chuckled. “Thank you, Sho-kun.” Satoshi inhaled deeply. “You should go back to Jun. He would protect you from everything.”

Sho didn't want to hear more of that. “I love you,” he blurted out again in order to stop Satoshi from going. It felt like he was running out of time and he had tons of words to say. He had tons of love that he needed to convey. He had tons of things that he wanted to experience with Satoshi, unfortunately without enough time. “I love you, Satoshi-kun. I love you. I love you,” he said almost hysterically, refusing to let Satoshi go. “I don’t have enough time to say this to you,” Sho sobbed. “Don’t go, Satoshi,” he begged. 

Satoshi slid out of Sho’s arms and looked at him. “I will come back,” he promised. It sounded so fleeting, so fragile to Sho’s ears. “Believe me, Sho-kun,” Satoshi insisted, holding Sho’s hands strongly. 

“Satoshi-kun…” Sho whispered, he wanted to forbid him from going but seeing the determination in Satoshi’s eyes, he felt powerless. 

“I love you, Sho-kun, and no matter what, I will continue loving you,” _even if I die today,_ he didn’t say that but Sho was aware that. 

They kissed one more time, tenderly and full of love. A kiss for the never said goodbye, to ensure the insecurities and a promise for coming back, which was ambiguous. Sho clutched Satoshi’s hands as if his life was depended on it, and in a sense, it was. But he couldn’t stop Satoshi’s hands leaving his, and him disappearing in the depths of the forest once again like he did many times. 

Sho looked after Satoshi with a tear-stained face, his heart beating painfully in his chest, sad and afraid. “No…” he whispered. “Satoshi!” he called after him, clumsily jumped up to catch him. Of course, Satoshi was long gone with that speed and Sho only thought how things could go wrong. 

Sho started to run, not really knowing where to but hoping that his steps would somehow lead him to The Witch’s garden, with only one thought in his mind: _I won’t let you take him away._

***

Jun cursed himself for being this stupid when he realized Sho was gone. How could he not notice when he was at the next door, completely awake?! 

“Stop beating yourself up,” suddenly Nino cut off his train of thoughts. 

“Nino…” he started but Nino stopped him. 

“There's nothing you could do anyways,” he said calmly looking through the window. 

“You can't know that,” Jun said painfully. 

“I know,” Nino said. “But you also know that we couldn't prevent anything, until now. Either the fire or the injuries of Satoshi. Also, we couldn't stop him and you know that you can't find him even if you searched for,” Nino sighed. 

“But still-” 

“It's something beyond our control,” Nino said with a serious voice. Then suddenly he chuckled. “I can't believe that I'm accompanying a wizard to find an immortal monster and a furious crazy witch.”

“You don't have to, you know,” Jun said hesitantly. 

“And miss the biggest action in my life? No thanks,” he laughed. 

“You're weird,” Jun commented with a slight smile.

Nino rolled his eyes. “You know, you have serious issues with compliments.”

Jun laughed. “I will work hard then,” he said checking Nino with the corner of his eye. 

“You better be, I'm the judge after all,” Nino said with a serious face but the crinkled in the corner of his lips were betraying him. 

Jun let out a laugh. “Thanks, Nino, I already feel better.” Then suddenly Jun's phone started to ring. Jun reached for his phone, holding the wheel with his one hand. He frowned when he saw the callers ID. 

“Aiba-san? Wait, what? Um… That's…” Jun answered confused by the speech. Nino was somehow trying his best not to laugh. “Oh… Okay? I guess… No, I mean, how? Nino?” Jun threw a weird glance at Nino. “Uh… Thanks, I guess? Okay, okay, I get it. We will have a party next Friday,” Jun said and then he mounted Nino a very confused, “I really can’t follow this conversation…” with that, Nino started to laugh out loud, “Ah! No, nothing! Okay, thanks again!” Jun continued and finally, he stuffed the phone into his pocket again. 

“Care to explain to me how Aiba knows that I’m a wizard?” Jun asked with narrowed eyes. 

“Well… I told him?” Nino said, trying his best to look innocent. 

“It was supposed to be a secret!!” Jun groaned. 

“You can’t blame me! He came confronting me!” Nino protested. 

“What?” 

“He heard us talking on the rooftop that night!” Nino said with a pout. “And he is Aiba! He said he always knew something was different about you.” 

“Oh… That’s… Um…” Jun stuttered. “I’m sorry,” he added with an apologetic smile.

“Well, it was so unfortunate that I couldn’t keep you as my personal portable charger but Aiba deserves to know too,” Nino mumbled. 

Jun chuckled. “I won’t charge Aiba’s phone too.”

“But will you keep charging me?” 

“Well, I guess I have to. I’m your personal portable charger after all,” Jun said trying to sound normal. 

Nino cackled. “Sho-chan will tease us really hard.”

“You can tease him about Satoshi too,” Jun noted. 

“You’re right. I definitely will!” 

Nino smiled as his eyes met with Jun. Both of them refused to think about the next day, where Satoshi might not be with them anymore.

***

He looked around himself for a moment before he actually turned to look at the garden, only to see how destroyed it was. It was nothing like Satoshi knew or remembered. The garden was a beautiful place even though the curse that was covering it. But now, the garden only looked wild, scary and pretty much abandoned. 

The Witch was there. Not physically but her soul was there. Satoshi could feel her presence, her agony even before going into the garden. He smiled sadly. He was the cause of her agony, he was perfectly aware of that and yet he didn't have any intention to back off. It was interesting how her monster turned into something horrible that can actually hurt her. But still, Satoshi didn't have any regrets at that moment, standing in front of her. Because he wasn't her monster anymore. Because he wasn't a monster anymore. He was just a poor soul, cursed by her. Yet, he couldn't hate her because it was all thanks to her. Thanks to that she gave an eternal life to the monster, he managed to become Satoshi. He managed to find Sho, and fall in love with him. 

“It has been a while,” Satoshi murmured when he finally stepped into the garden. A wild, cold wind hit his face strongly, making him stumble a step back. “I am not sorry,” Satoshi said, a bit louder than before. “I want you to turn me into a human,” he said loudly. 

The wind roared again, forming words that hung in the air. "You can’t become a human."

“Why?” Satoshi asked.

“You are just a monster with a created heart and mind,” The Witch answered mercilessly. 

Satoshi lowered his head before speaking, “But I still feel.”

“You’re not meant to feel,” The Witch said coldly. “You can’t feel anything.” 

“You’re wrong!” Satoshi looked up to see the shadowy silhouette in front of him. “You’re the one who created this heart,” Satoshi said as he put his hand in front of his beating heart. 

“You only have to feel hate. You can’t love a human,” The Witch said not affected by Satoshi. 

“You’re wrong… I don’t hate anything,” Satoshi murmured.

“You hate me,” The Witch spoke almost mockingly. “You hate me for creating you. You hate me for making you immortal. You hate me for everything.”

“I don’t… I don’t hate you,” Satoshi looked at The Witch. “How can I? You created me, gave me a life to live, a chance to meet Sho, a heart to love him,” Satoshi said truthfully.

The Witch only laughed. It was a ruthless sound that made Satoshi’s ears hurt. “And apparently I should take that heart away from you… And those memories…” The Witch said, looking straight into the monster’s eyes. “You were behaving strangely because of that heart,” her eyes glowed with a red light. “It’s for your own good, my monster,” she held out her hand, ready to cast her spell.

“No!” Satoshi yelled with fear, tears in his eyes. “Please, don’t take it away from me,” he begged. “I can’t forget him, you can’t take him away from me!” he begged and begged because living an eternity with no recollection of Sho’s memories, was worse than his worst dreams. “I’m willing to accept anything, but just don’t take this away from me!” 

“Are you willing to die then?” The Witch asked belittling the monster’s words. 

“I am,” Satoshi said truthfully. “I am willing to die if you want me. I would be still happy to met Sho.” 

“Then die,” The Witch said, annoyed and disgusted by the monster. Satoshi held his breath and gulped. _So this is it,_ he thought sadly. _I’m sorry Sho-kun, it looks like I can’t keep my promise._

The Witch’s eyes glowed with crimson light, her fingers bend into her palm and Satoshi felt her cold, frightening, forceful yet very familiar magic stabbing through his body, choking him and sucking the tiniest life from him. Satoshi fell forward, first onto his knees, then he felt the cold ground against his face. His heart which was beating for centuries now was beating it’s last few moments. Satoshi almost couldn’t believe that this is the end of everything for him. Satoshi almost couldn’t believe that there won’t be a next morning, which he would wake up to see Sho’s face. Satoshi almost couldn’t believe that he had to leave Sho, that he can’t keep his promise, that he would end up making him cry more. 

His tears started to stream down from his face, meeting with the ground. Knowing that he would never be able to see Sho hurt more than The Witch’s magic, which was ripping the life out of his powerless body. Then suddenly everything disappeared. The pain, the fear, the sadness. Someone or something, lift his almost lifeless body from the ground, turned his face up to the sky and Satoshi saw the beautiful rays of the sunlight maybe for the last time in his long life. Then he saw Sho’s face. Maybe this was how the God was welcoming him to death even though he doubted that the God would accept him… “Sho-kun…” he managed to whisper. “I love you, Sho-kun.” 

Those were the last words that left Satoshi’s lips. And then, the monster closed his eyes, knowing that there won’t be a waking up again.

***

Sho felt like his own heart stopped beating when he saw Satoshi writhe in pain. He heard them before seeing. 

“Are you willing to die then?” he heard an annoyed female voice, making his steps go faster. 

Then he heard Satoshi’s voice saying, “I am. I am willing to die if you want me. I would be still happy to met Sho.” 

_No, no, no,_ Sho thought hysterically as he ran towards the voices. He dashed towards the garden, which was actually not a garden anymore but Sho didn’t have any time to examine what’s around him at that moment. He saw a shadowy figure, assuming that it must be The Witch who created Satoshi. She was tall, with long black hair surging in the thin air, angrily. She was glowing with red light giving her an unapproachable aura. 

“Then die,” The Witch said, sounding annoyed, disgusted and somehow sad. She bent her fingers and Satoshi fell to his knees, he struggled for a second before falling to his knees. 

Sho ran forward without thinking, as he called his name. “Satoshi!” His voice echoed through the forest as he ran Satoshi’s side, holding him and turning him around. Sho’s hands were trembling as he couldn’t think of anything. What to do? What to do? Ambulance? But they were too far from any hospitals, it would never make it on time, Sho thought hysterically. “Satoshi… Satoshi…” He continued to call his name, not knowing that he was crying and his tears mixing with Satoshi’s. 

Then Satoshi looked at him. Somehow it was like a miracle and he whispered “Sho-kun…” he whispered with difficulty. “I love you, Sho-kun,” and closed his eyes. 

A smile was adorning his face, and Sho felt his own heart stopping with Satoshi’s. “No, no, no…” Sho whispered, touching Satoshi’s soft and still warm cheeks. “You can’t die!” Sho said loudly. “You promised me!” He cried on the top of Satoshi’s chest. 

“You can’t take him!” Sho said all of a sudden as he turned his face towards The Witch. “You just can’t…” He cried. “Please… Don’t take him…” he begged. 

However, it was futile. The Witch didn’t show any mercy towards him. “Why?” She asked. Her voice was colder than anything Sho had know. 

“Because I love him!” He said. His feelings were as raw as it could probably become.

“He is a monster,” The Witch said. “He is just a marionette created by me.”

“Even so, I love him,” Sho cut her. “It doesn’t matter if he is created by you or he has a created heart. It doesn’t matter!” Sho stood up, taking a few steps towards The Witch. “He is not a monster… You’re the one who created him because you didn’t want to be alone. There wasn’t a way for you to create a hateful monster from the start! You only wanted to be accepted by someone, and that’s why Satoshi bears all those feelings…” Sho said stubbornly.

A silence covered the forest as The Witch didn’t answer. Suddenly, rays of the sun started to brighten the garden, in a magical way. The furious red light around The Witch disappeared and suddenly, Satoshi was enveloped in a soft blue light. Sho looked at him with disbelief reflecting through his eyes. 

“It was love, after all,” Sho heard The Witch’s voice one last time before she disappeared from this world completely. 

The Witch was finally gone. 

***

Satoshi felt weird when the light behind his eyelids started to hurt. It was… weird. He couldn’t find any other words to describe this feeling. It was like waking up but he was dead. Could deads even wake up? Apparently, he could or he wasn’t dead because his eyes opened without showing any restraint. 

He saw the blue sky, lighten up with the morning sun and his eyes met with another pair of deep, brown eyes which he loved so much. “Sho-kun?” He voiced his name, which sounded pretty much normal. It didn’t feel like he was dead at all. 

Then Sho started to cry as he threw his arms around Satoshi, embracing him strongly. Satoshi blinked once, twice before his brain accepting that he wasn’t dead. He wrapped his arms around Sho, holding him strongly. He inhaled Sho’s scent which he thought he would never be able to again, deeply. “Sho-kun!” He said, not caring his tears wetting Sho’s clothes. 

“Satoshi-kun!” Sho sobbed. “You’re an idiot!” He said. His voice was mixed with anger and relief. 

Satoshi chuckled between his cries. “I’m sorry,” he said. “But thank you for bringing me back, Sho-kun.”

Sho only clutched more to his body as an answer. There was a promise that they felt on their skin which wasn’t spoken but exchanged by both of them. 

_I will never let you go.  
I will never ever let you go._

***

"It looks like we were too late," Jun said with a relieved chuckle as he watched Sho and Satoshi clutching each other. 

"Or just on time," Nino commented with a big grin. 

"Yeah, you're right," Jun nodded. "Let's take them to home." 

"Aww," Nino cooed before Jun can move. "Don't worry J, you're still my favorite wizard even though you couldn't do anything this time," Nino said with a snicker. 

"Ugh, you would never let me get away, won't you?" Jun grumbled and started walking towards the now very happy couple.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: So everyone who is still reading this... first of all, apologies! Real life... Well lots of things happened but here we are. Basically, this is the last chapter. But there will be an epilogue with Happiness as theme. Because as you see, it was pretty much angst and to be honest, my heart is hurting after writing this chapter. I wasn't really expecting things will turn out this angsty and originally I planned this to be the ending but yeah, I personally need an epilogue with lots of fluff haha  
> Again, so sorry for the delay but somehow I managed to finish this fic!  
> Let's meet again for one last time at the epilogue!!  
> And!! If you're reading this, please let me hear your thoughts about the fic, I would be really really happy for any comments even the shortest ones! <3  
> Lots of love from Yukina~


	12. Happiness

_Once upon a time, there was a monster who lived for centuries hiding in the depths of the history. The time was a cruel thing. Those people whom once feared of him was starting to forget him together with his creator. It was so soon that everyone forgot about him. He became a legend, and then a fairy tale to scare the kids. No one knew if he was real, if he really existed back then or if he still existed, no one really cared about it._

_The monster was lonely, forgotten, but not sad. He still loved the world despite the world hating him. He still cared for the fragile flowers but he loved the small blue ones the most. He cared about them because their creator also had forgotten him just like his own creator who forgot him._

_His days were the same. Isolated, lonely, slightly melancholic. He always wondered the world outside as the time passed. He always wondered about how it changed since he last saw it. However, he was aware that there was no place for him in that world. It didn’t matter how much it changed._

_One day, humans started to build a camping area near the ancient forest. So close to his hiding place. He was so close to being discovered. He was scared. What if he loses the garden? Then he would lose his only place in this world._

_But what he feared never happened. He watched the humans come and go, with a sad smile on his face for many years. This time, it was nice because having humans close to him somehow made him feel not that lonely. But still, there was no place for him out there._

_It was one of those days when he found a little human, far from the camping area. His first instinct was to run away, but when he saw a dead tree which was about the crush the little guy, the monster moved without thinking._

_When he stopped the dead tree with his bare hands, the kid was weirdly not scared and that amazed the monster more than he could actually guess. The kid had a name, unlike the monster. That name felt perfect on the monster’s lips, which hadn’t moved for a very long time since he had no one to talk. His name, Sho, had a perfect melody that the monster liked to hear very much and he would call his name even after he left the monster, just to fill his empty days. They spent only two weeks together but that mere two weeks worth more than a decade in the monster’s life. He got acceptance, he got a name, he got Sho’s trust, he got to see his smile. Those were more than anything the monster could ask for._

_The day Sho left, the monster thought it was all over. That nice two weeks were gone and the monster’s eternal life would continue like that. He decided that he would always remember that two weeks, Sho’s smile, his kind soul, the name he had given to the monster._

_But one day, Sho came back. He was different from what the monster had remembered, but he was also the same Sho. He had a short temper, but honest eyes. His sloppy shoulders and cute lips turned into something very alluring for the monster. He wanted to wrap his arms around Sho, demand him to remember who the monster was but he couldn’t. Because he knew that there was no place for him out there._

_Yet, Sho remembered. He did what Satoshi was incapable and wrapped his arms around Satoshi strongly. It was as if Sho was reassuring Satoshi that he remembered him, that he wouldn’t forget him anymore._

_The monster had no place out there, but he had a place in Sho’s heart and that was more precious than the whole world. But Sho was incredible. He was magical, in a different kind but yes, he was magical. He was Satoshi’s personal miracle and he was stronger than his creator. Sho gave him a place in the world, a place in his own heart._

_Sho was made out of everything that Satoshi lacked and Satoshi loved him with everything he had and didn’t have. So when Satoshi wanted to forsake his immortality, he only had one thought in his mind. That only a lifetime with Sho was worth than an immortal life._

_And now, Satoshi was no longer a monster, and he was happy. He was finally and undeniably **happy**._

 

***

When Sho woke up, he saw Satoshi occupying the second pillow. He was so close to Sho that his hair was tickling Sho’s nose. It was nice though, Sho inhaled Satoshi’s scent deeply. He had a very distinctive scent that Sho loved very much. Sho moved slightly to wrap his arms around Satoshi and now they were a bundle of limbs tangled together. Sho laughed inwardly. They now had a king size bed but they were occupying such a little space. Sho always chose to stay close to Satoshi and he knew it was the same for Satoshi too. 

He kissed Satoshi’s head gently. Satoshi grumbled something incoherently as he moved a little back to see Sho’s face. He blinked a few times, clearly having a hard time to keep his eyes open. “Day-off,” he mumbled before letting his head fall again as he pressed himself closer to Sho. 

Sho chuckled. “I know but it’s 10 a.m.,” he said signaling the plans he built up for their day-off. He had decided everything, planning a perfect day for them. It was the second year of Satoshi turning into a human and Sho was grateful to this day every single second of his life. Sho still remembered that day vividly. It was the worst and best day of his life. There was no way he could forget the day when he witnessed Satoshi’s death and he was determined to make this day as unforgettable as that day, in a good meaning. 

Satoshi hummed but Sho knew he was already fast asleep. He chuckled, deciding he could let the other sleep a bit more and he slipped out of the bed carefully. Once he was on feet, he tugged the covers around Satoshi, who sighed contently. Sho made his way to the downstairs, where their new kitchen was. 

After Satoshi became human, they lived in Sho’s house for a while but as soon as Sho managed to put things in order with his company, they moved into another house. Now they were living a bit bigger but still small house which had two floors and a bit of backyard. Satoshi was currently growing enviably beautiful flowers. The ones Sho loves the most is those tiny blue flowers which had so much meaning behind it. 

Their kitchen had a small window in front of the kitchen sink where they could see the beautiful backyard. Sho looked at the counter only to saw a bunch of red roses in a vase. He smiled. Apparently, Satoshi remembered the day as well. He must have collected them when Sho was still asleep. He admired the healthy red roses, which bathed with the sunlight illuminating them through the kitchen window for a moment before walking towards them to count.

Once Satoshi told him that a flower’s meaning isn’t just specific to its color and type alone, but also, depending on the number of flowers. He counted twelve roses, and he couldn’t help but blush. Satoshi may be a man with few words mostly but he had such an endearing way to declare his love towards Sho. 

Sho bent down a little to inhale the scent of the roses deeply before he turned back to their bedroom. He slid under the covers not really caring about waking Satoshi up on this point, he started to kiss every part of him until he squirmed and woke up. 

Satoshi didn’t ask anything as he simply adjusted himself to Sho’s kisses. He wrapped an arm to his waist pulling him towards himself and answering his kisses as passionate as Sho. He loved how Satoshi always know what he’s thinking and he felt like he was falling for Satoshi more every second of his life. 

“Aren’t I already yours?” Sho mumbled to Satoshi’s lips. 

Satoshi hummed, tightening his arms around Sho, he smiled. “You are.”

“Of course,” Sho planted another kiss to Satoshi’s lips. 

Satoshi deepened the kiss, slowly caressing Sho’s body. It was a nice, slow but very passionate kiss. They only parted when they needed to store some air in their lungs. Satoshi caressed Sho’s puffy and red lower lip with his thumb gently. He looked deeply into Sho’s eyes. Most of the people would see mutual love in their beloved one’s eyes but for Satoshi, he was looking at the most precious miracle of the world. “Be mine always,” he mumbled looking deeply into Sho’s eyes. 

“Be mine always,” Sho answered, letting himself melt into the moment's sweetness. They kissed over and over again, and Sho decided that all those plans he made for his day-off didn’t matter at all. “Let’s stay in the bed for some more,” Sho said in between the kisses. “Everything can wait.” He wanted that day to be perfect, but it already was when Sho woke up next to Satoshi. 

Satoshi smiled, eyes sparkling with happiness. He wrapped himself around Sho and he was determined not to let this happiness go. 

For Sho, happiness meant having Satoshi beside him.   
For Satoshi, happiness meant having Sho beside him. 

And both of them wouldn’t change this to an eternity.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: So guys! It's finally over!!!!! God, I'm so satisfied for finally finishing this. I hope it's fluffy enough after all those angst :D But I am personally very satisfied with the ending itself („ಡωಡ„)  
> So, the epilogue doesn't have any Matsumiya in it, and that's exactly because I decided to write another story about them. Because why not? I love Matsumiya. 
> 
> As for the flower language trivia; **[the general meanings that I used](http://thelanguageofflowers.com/), ****[the meanings of the counts of roses](https://www.serenataflowers.com/pollennation/meaning-roses-1-to-100-roses/), **[**a Japanese site**](https://koimemo.com/article/8944) **  
> So giving someone the 12 roses: it is said that twelve have a special meaning in particular. Each rose of 12 has a meaning of "affection, passion, appreciation, hope, happiness, eternity, respect, effort, glory, honesty, trust, truth" and sending it to those who you love means "Be mine. = Please stay by my side (according to last Japanese site)  
>  Isn't this romantic?! (*꒦ິ꒳꒦ີ) I feel so cheesy but well... haha **
> 
> **Lastly and the most importantly my dearest readers whom always read and left a comment to this fic even though I was probably the worst person about updating it regularly, you all deserved a big THANK YOU! I wouldn't be able to finish this otherwise *hugs***
> 
> **Hopefully, see you on another journey!  
>  Lots of love   
> Yukina~**


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